


The Drama Club

by Haranuva



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cuban Lance (Voltron), F/M, Gay Keith (Voltron), Happy Ending, Italian Matt and Pidge, Japanese Shiro (Voltron), Korean Keith (Voltron), M/M, Pansexual Lance (Voltron), Pidge Pretending to be a Guy, Samoan Hunk (Voltron), School Dance, School Theater Club, cross dressing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-22
Updated: 2018-03-14
Packaged: 2018-12-18 16:55:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 27
Words: 42,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11878803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Haranuva/pseuds/Haranuva
Summary: Katie Holt was minding her business in the cafeteria when she is rudely pulled into disaster by none other than Lance McClain. Now she has to be herself AND pretend to be a boy in a school which strictly prohibits the interaction between genders. And for what? To take extra classes, fake a job, learn to dance, act in a theater group, and avoid being discovered by the principle and his arrogant son. Things weren’t looking very good.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> *Work still in progress*  
> This is more like a hobby when I have time, sorry for the slow progress sometimes.

Katie stood in line at the cafeteria, wiggling impatiently and adjusting her green backpack as it pulled on her shoulders uncomfortably. Yes she was back for seconds, technically, but when a rambunctious lanky boy bumped into her she had spilled half her dinner. That didn’t seem fair to her or her grumbling stomach. She was pretty sure the server was ignoring her now. She frowned as he continued to talk to another student, dripping gravy over mash potatoes agonizingly slowly. Katie opened her mouth to let him know she was there when loud arguing erupted over the noise in the cafeteria. She forgot momentarily about food and turned to see what was going on. It was the lanky boy that ran into her half an hour ago! She glared at him as he entered the room with two boys in close pursuit.

“Look man, I already told you I refuse to have you in my play!” The tall boy quickened his step trying to get distance between him and his followers. “Lance, you know I’m your only option at this point! Stop being such an ass and admit it! YOU DON’T HAVE ANYONE ELSE! Besides.” He flicked his hair over his shoulder. “You need this in your play” The tall lanky boy that Katie now knew to be Lance, turned on his heels and angrily jabbed his finger at the other. “NO, LOTOR! I already have someone to play the role, someone who will never be you!” Lotor pulled a dignified face. “I’ll have you know, my father will be hearing about this if I don’t see this person, because I don’t believe you! You’re just a liar!”

Lance pulled away gasping dramatically. “You dare call me a liar in front of everyone in this room?” His voice raised in pitch. The second boy that had been following now came to Lance’s side putting a hand cautiously between the two. “I don’t think we should be discussing this in front of the whole school” He sang nervously under his breath. “Oh, fuck off Hunk!” Lance and Lotor said in unison. Hunk shrunk away apologetically and snuck away to the food line. 

Katie raised an eyebrow as he came to stand behind her in line. “I’ll just leave them to it then...” Hunk was muttering. “Hey, is dinner over or something? Why aren’t we moving?” He asked Katie, peering over her to see the server STILL talking with the other student. The gravy ladle was now casually swinging in the air as he described some event. The fighting between Lotor and Lance had gotten even louder.

“Tell your dad all you want, you spoiled rich kid! But I am in charge of this semester drama club and I get so say when I DON’T want someone in it and I DON’T WANT YOU!” Lotor grabbed Lance’s shirt in his fist. “You’re lying! You don’t have anyone.” “YES I DO!” “PROVE IT!” “THEY’RE IN THIS ROOM!”

Lotor let go of Lance’s shirt with a scoff and looked around. “Where?” Lance’s face went blank for a split second and Katie quickly realized that Lance had indeed been lying. Whoever this mysterious “other” actor was, Lance didn’t have him. “Well, I have to find him…” Lance stuttered. “There are a lot of people in here you know.” Lotor raise a perfectly waxed eyebrow and gave Lance a condescending look. Clearly he didn’t believe it. Lance didn’t take well to that. He puffed up his chest defensively and turned to look around. 

His eyes found Hunk and then Katie. She did NOT like that look on his face. His eyes narrowed and his lips pulled up in the corners. “Oh no. Oh no, no, no, no…” She thought as Lance swaggered over to her. “Huuuuuuunk.” He said in a friendly drawl leaning an arm on his friends shoulder. “I see you found him.” Hunk looked confused and then noticed who Lance was referring to.

Hunk turned to look at Katie, eyebrows pulled together. “But Lance…” Lance shot Hunk a look as Lotor walked up. “See” Lance smiled sweetly. “He’s right here.” Lotor looked Katie up and down with a frown. “Looks about right…” he muttered. Katie didn’t know what he meant by that, but she felt she should take offense. “Hey, eyes to self buddy.” Lotor held up a hand. “I’m sorry, it’s just like Lance to pick someone of your… stature…” Again Katie felt annoyed. 

Lance growled in disgust. “How dare you assume my choices to be bad. This here is one of the best actors I’ve ever seen!” Lance moved to put an arm around Katie’s shoulders. She tensed uncomfortably. “And you’ll have to take back that comment after he delivers his act perfectly next month!” “Laaaaaaance” Hunk whispered harshly under his breath. Lance ignored his friend.

“Now if you’ll excuuuuse me princess.” He mock bowed to Lotor, an arm still on Katie’s shoulders. “We’ll be on our way to practice.” “Wait we what?” Katie squeaked as Lance ushered her toward the cafeteria doors. “I thought _you_ were being the princess” Lotor sneered at them from behind as they walked out. He turned to look at Hunk, who laughed nervously and with a shrug made quick work to follow after Lance.

Katie was still holding a tray from the cafeteria and she now used it to push Lance away. “Now hold on a minute here!” She was spluttering when Hunk found them. “I get to have a say in this. And I say no. No, no. I will not partake in some dumb play and I will not get in trouble for your lying.” Lance stood there listening to her objections. “I know it was rude of me to pull you into this like that, but I promise this will be worth it! To get back at Lotor, the principles spoiled rich brat son.”

Katie gasped. “THAT was the principles son!?” She went pale. Her roommate Allura had told her that Lotor always got what he wanted. He was in the same class as Katie’s brother Matt and Matt’s roommate Coran. Matt didn’t bother to gossip much, all he had told her was that Lotor was a sore loser and couldn’t take no for an answer, even from teachers or people of authority. But Coran was a talker and had told Allura all about Lotor’s terrible behavior. 

“In a chemistry class, he was paired with someone he didn’t get along with and he purposely mixed chemicals to explode in his partners face. The poor guy still has a scar across his nose! And that’s not all. He embarrassed another classmate when he found out he was gay by sending horrible love letters to the others in the class. They all hate him for it. But no one can stand up against him because they magically start losing grades, or cafeteria money, or things in their dorms, or worse they got suspended or even expelled.”

Katie had listened to Allura talk about Lotor mostly because they shared a room and she had no choice. Allura’s father and Lotor’s were very good friends. Allura mainly complained about his flirtatious behavior toward her. Beside being attractive, with his lean features and long luscious locks, Lotor was incredibly devious. Girls swooned over him and he knew it. He knew exactly how to wrap someone around his finger and how to turn tables in his favor. Being in a position of power didn’t help any of these qualities.

Pidge gulped now, looking at Lance who was beaming at her. “You’re going to help me get back at him for everyone!” “I can’t! I can’t be kicked out of school for lying to the principles son. He’ll find me out so quickly!” Hunk now held up his hand politely. “Yes Hunk?” Lance asked. “Lotor is still close by, can we go somewhere safe please? Plus I’m still hungry and Shiro said he’d bring snacks to practice today.”

At the sound of snacks Katie remembered how hungry she still was. She looked through the cafeteria doors longingly at the food line which had resumed moving. “I’m fine with going to practice… for now” she added warningly as Lance’s face light up. “But I demand snacks since you’re stealing my dinner… again.” Lance seemed to miss or ignore her last statement. “Awesome. I promise you snacks. Now let’s go!” Katie had a really bad feeling about this.


	2. Chapter 2

 

Katie left the food tray on a trashcan in the hallway and followed the boys upstairs. She started feeling very uneasy. As a girl she hadn’t been on the third level, which was reserved for the males of the school. Boys and girls were allowed to mingle in the cafeteria and other public rooms of the second floor of course. But this school for some reason thought that during class time they were a distraction for each other. Honestly Katie was sure that everyone was just as distracted, regardless if boys were in her classroom or not.

But it was a very serious crime to break the rules of trespassing into rooms that she shouldn’t be in. The principle and teachers made it very clear that unless there was a school event or activity which permitted the boys and girls to intermingle, they were to avoid the opposite sex. She looked down at her feet as they reached the third floor. This might prove to be a big problem. 

Luckily most of the boys preferred to be downstairs on the second floor during meal times and break to chill with the girls. Katie was very thankful for young adult hormones right now. They might be saving her life. Lance stopped in front of two big doors with a sign that read “auditorium”. “Here we are. My kingdom, my domain.” He made a sweeping bow as he pushed one of the doors. 

But the door was too heavy, so after a few more failed attempts, Lance stood up and kicked the door open. They entered with a bang as the door slammed against the wall. On stage, four people looked up from their scripts. Lance waved a long arm in the air “I did it! I got rid of Lotor and found our actor!” He called, punching the air in triumph. 

There was a weak “yay” from the stage that Katie recognized as Coran. “Oh are we not celebrating? Oh okay…” came the dejected voice. Lance, Hunk, and Katie made it to the stage. She blinking in the bright light and looked on stage. There was Coran, two boys she didn’t recognize and… “Pidge?” “Matt!”

Her brother looked down at her from his stool. Coran leaned over and whispered “Isn’t that your sister?” Matt seemed rather embarrassed to be caught in a drama club but he stood up to help her on stage. “What are you doing here?” He asked cautiously. He knew as a girl she wasn’t allowed on the boys floor and didn’t want her to get in trouble. That’s why he had used his childhood code name for her, Pidge Gunderson, defender against injustice and neglected puppies. Of course as they grew up Katie wouldn’t agree that she had insisted upon defending puppies when she was little. “Uhm…”

Lance jumped on stage. “Didn’t you hear me nerd boy? This is…” but he didn’t get to finish what he was saying because Katie, now known to the others as Pidge, spoke angrily. “Don’t call my brother nerd boy!” Lance stopped short, staring at Pidge who huffed. Then a smile crept up the corner of his mouth. “So Matt is your brother?” Pidge realized what she had done. “Whoops…”

Matt cleared his throat. “Yes Pidge and I are related” Coran covered his face to hide a smile. Understanding seemed to dawn on the faces of the other two boys. The older one cracked a smile. “Hey Lance, I don’t think we should force this… person, to be in the play if they don’t want to.”

Lance turned to face him “Shiro! You of all people must understand that I do this in the name of greater good! To stop Lotor from thinking he runs this school! To stop him from hurting more people. I do this…!” Lance was cut off by the other boy. “To get even.” “Yes, exactly, you underst… whaaaaat!?”  
“You’re doing this to annoy him. And as much as I think his royal ass deserves it, we shouldn’t force this girl into it. She can get into big trouble just being here.” “Oh Keith, what do you know? You just… wait. Did you say girl!?” Lance’s jaw dropped and he turned to face Pidge in shock. He visibly shook himself and put a hand to his chin. Stroking thoughtfully, he looked her up and down. “Hey!” Pidge said, suddenly feeling violated. 

“Nope.” Lance finally announced. “I don’t see it. If she is a she why does she wear boys clothes? Why is her hair like that? It is completely understandable why I thought she was a boy.” Pidge opened her mouth to put Lance in his place when Matt stood defensively beside her. “Is it so hard to say sorry Lance? Don’t pick on her preferences, my sister can do anything she likes.” Pidge felt a warm feeling of gratitude to her brother and she smiled at him. “Thank’s Matt.” Matt smiled down at his little sister.

Lance huffed and puffed, throwing his arms across his chest and then to his sides and then into the air. “Okay! I’m sorry. I fucked up big time. Now we’re all going to be in trouble.” Shiro cleared his throat. “Well, not to be going against rules in front of our RA” he nodded toward Coran, “But I’d much rather have Pidge in our play than Lotor.” Keith made a disgusted sound. “I have to agree, anyone would be better than Lotor.” 

Coran stood up authoritatively. “Well. As a resident assistant, I have to say that this is a terrible idea and we could all be suspended or expelled. Our school is very strict on the rules that girls and boys are not to be together during class session…” He paused to stroke his mustache, a twinkle in his eye. “That being said, a little rebelling might be fun.” 

Lance laughed like a giddy child who just stole candy and got away with it. “Coran, are you siding with us!? This is great! We have permission from the authority.” “Now, now, don’t get carried away Lance. I’m only in charge of the male students in the school. I might be able to minimize the damage for you boys if we get caught, but I can’t say the same to our little missy here.” They all turned toward Pidge. 

Matt didn’t seem pleased with the idea. “I don’t want to risk this. Pidge and I didn’t get into this school because of title, money, or bribery. We worked hard to get good GPAs and to be accepted. If this goes wrong, we could be kicked out and what would happen to our futures then?” He turned to Pidge. “What would mom and dad say?”

Pidge looked down at her feet. It was true she didn’t want to be expelled, with their parents expecting so much from the two of them. Their dad was waiting for Matt to graduate and join him in his scientific work at Galaxy Garrison. Pidge herself had big plans, maybe not to join her brother and father, but she had a very good knack with technology and science. All that could go down the drain if they were caught. And for what? A little fun rebelling against dumb rules and a jerk who could really screw up their lives.

It wasn’t even herself that she worried for. She couldn’t put Matt in that situation and risk his dream of going to space. She looked up at them. “As interesting as it would be to act in an rebellious play with you all, I just can’t risk…” She couldn’t finished her sentence because the auditorium doors flew open with another BANG and Lotor walked in with a vengeance.


	3. Chapter 3

Lance jumped off the stage in an instance, “What do you think you’re doing here? Club members for rehearsal only!” Lotor stepped aside with a smirk to allow his father entrance. Lance gulped and stopped short. Everyone on stage held their breath. 

Principal Zarkon walked in, suit crisp and hands held behind his back. His eyes swept across the room and rested on Pidge, who froze. He eyed the others briefly as he made his way into the light. “Good day gentleman. How is the play going?” Lance stammered a reply along the lines of “Uh… g… good?” Zarkon continued without acknowledging Lance’s presence. “I know I haven’t met everyone personally at this school, but since my son has taken an interest in the drama club I thought I’d come to see you all today.” Lotor’s smug face earned an unpleasant one from Lance. 

“I see my son is correct in saying that you have all the roles filled. But would it be to much to ask for my son to be the understudy for the main role?” the principal now turned to look at Lance as if for the first time. “I am correct in saying you are in charge of the drama department, Lance McClain?” The guy was visibly shaken. Lance should’ve guessed, with Lotor making him his personal enemy, that the principal would have looked up his information.

“I uh, yes, I am in charge of the drama club.” He stuttered. “Then you shall see to it that Lotor is the understudy to the role he wants.” He turned to leave. “You never know if something could happen that would require the understudy to step up” he placed a hand on his sons shoulder. He took a few steps to leave and then stopped as if remembering something. “Oh yes.” He turned about again to face the group.

“Who is the lead role?” Lance reluctantly pointed to Pidge. Zarkon turned to look at her. “And what is your name boy?” Pidge wanted to shrink away from that piercing look. “Pidge, sir. Pidge Gunderson.” Matt let out a small gasped. Coran kept a tight lip but his eyes were darting between Zarkon and Pidge. Zarkon’s eyes narrow for just a moment. “Pidge Gunderson…” he muttered to himself. “Very well boys. Carry on. I’m looking forward to seeing the play in a months time. I expect great things from you all.”

He motioned for Lotor to follow him to everyone’s great relief. Lotor turned to follow after his father, but not before giving the group a triumphant smile and flicking them the bird. Lance made an equally rude gesture and stuck out his tongue. They waited for the principle and his son to leave, the door swinging closed behind them.

Almost in unison everyone let out a sigh of relief. Pidge hadn’t realized she had been holding her breath. Matt looked at her in horror. “Katie! You just lied to the principal and used your code name! Our childish code name!” Lance laughed. “She was brilliant! I knew I had picked the right person for this team.” “Lance you just picked the first person who would agree to your stupidity” Keith said with a frown of disapproval. 

Lance’s eye twitched in annoyance. “You know what Keith!?” The two started bickering about Keith being emo and Lance being an idiot. The others focused on the matter at hand. Pidge grabbed at her shirt nervously. “I couldn’t tell him I was a girl!” Shiro nodded “It’s okay, I’m sure we would have all done the same in your situation.” Matt was still in a fit of worry.

Hunk had admiration in his eyes “I can’t believe you lied to the principal! You’re either crazy or amazing” Pidge had to smile at that. “Maybe a bit of both” she joked. Coran hummed nervously “The problem is, there is no Pidge Gunderson in our records. Only Katie Holt. If Principal Zarkon looks your fake alias he is sure to put the two together. He is no fool.”

Matt’s anxious pacing had been put into words. “Yes! Exactly! And now you have to upkeep both Katie and Pidge! What will happen to classes? Your grades?” Pidge put a hand on her brothers shoulder to calm him. “Matt, I didn’t do this on purpose, but I can handle it.” 

“We could register you as Pidge Gunderson, but it would show as a new student and that would be suspicious.” Shiro said thoughtfully. Pidge took her brothers glasses and put them on. She didn’t need them, but they helped her think. “I can be both Pidge Gunderson AND Katie Holt!” She announced. “But you look like your brother” Shiro pointed out. With Matt’s glasses on, she did looked liked him. 

Coran exclaimed excitedly. “This might work! You look exactly like your brother. You could be twins.” “But our last names don’t match now…” Matt said. “And what about dorms and classes? What if Principle Zarkon asks the teachers if they see you in class, or about your participation.” Pidge seemed to deflate a bit. “You’re right...” Coran clapped his hands.

“I am an RA! I could easily sneak you into a room, and it is only required that you take two classes in which you physically participate. You could do the rest online under the pretenses that you also work a job off campus. About the last names, we could try to change Matt’s name to match yours?” 

Pidge thought about this. “That might actually be doable. All my classes as Katie this semester are rather simple. I’m not too excited about doing extra work, being in a play and taking more classes. But this might still work.” Matt took his sister by the shoulders and looked her in the eye. “Katie, you can still say no. We can just say that Pidge broke a leg and couldn’t be in the play anymore.”

“And when he looks up my fake name and finds nothing, we all might still be in trouble if he pieces together that I was Pidge, and I’m a girl, and I was on the boys floor during class time.” She put her hands on her brothers and looked him in the eye. “I can do this Matt. I would appreciate your help with the extra classes, and being my twin maybe you can fill in for me if something happens?” 

Matt’s eyebrows furrowed. “Okay. I know better than to try changing you’re mind when you have that look in them” “What will we do about adding you to the school system?” Keith asked, walking over to them, Lance’s head firmly locked under one arm. “Ow, ow, ow. Okay Keith you win, you win!” Keith ignored his struggling. 

Pidge smiled. “I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve, don’t you worry. I just need to go back to my dorm and get my laptop.” Matt sighed. “Okay, let’s do this. Meet me in my room.” Pidge nodded firmly, handed Matt back his glasses and made for the door. Matt watched his sister leave them. “Lance, if something happens to her, I will personally bring you down.” He said, turning to grab his script before he headed to his room. “Ooh, scary” Lance looked at Keith nervously. “Better keep her safe man.”


	4. Chapter 4

Pidge made her way down the hallway of the third floor. It was now 7:00pm. Classes had been over at 5:30pm, and dinner was just finishing up. If she was quick she could make it to the second floor without problems and then safely to the girls dorms on the first floor. She took the stairs down two at a time and landed on the second floor. Students where mingling around the cafeteria and in the lounges.

With the school being split between boys and girls, they had established the second floor as common ground. It was here that most activities took place and where most of the more social students preferred to be in their free time. Not Pidge, she preferred to be alone in her room with her technology. And that’s where she was headed when a familiar voice called out to her.

“Oh Katie!” She turned slowly to see Allura waving at her from one of the benches that aligned the wall. Katie wasn’t surprised to see she had male companions with her. Allura was gorgeous in Katie’s book and others thought so too. There was also the fact that she was a very iconic person in their world. Her father was the mayor of the town and also helped found the school. Sometimes Katie wondered if people were just around Allura to get in her good favor. But Katie knew that Allura wasn’t fooled by those people. 

She turned away for a brief moment to sigh and then made her way over to Allura with a forced smile. “Hey Allura.” “Oh dear, Katie.” “Why did I bother trying to look social?” Katie thought as Allura stood up quickly, noticing how stressed her friend was. “Is everything alright? You look… unwell?” 

Katie shook her head. “No Allura, I’m fine. I was just heading back to our room to do some studying. You know how I get withdrawals from my technology.” Allura laughed, a tinkling sound. “Yes I do. Alright dear, you know where to find me if you need me.” She held up her cellphone. “Call me, beep me, if you wanna reach me.” 

Katie tried not to cringe at Allura’s quoting of “Kim Possible.” She smiled at her roommate instead and clinked her cellphone against Allura’s. “Don’t make me regret showing you my favorite childhood show.” She laughed and made a quick escape.

Finally back on the first floor and in the confines of her room, Katie lunged for her laptop. She hoped she hadn’t taken too long. Now she had to get to her brothers room. But first, “I should probably start hacking right away. We can finish when I get there” she thought, opening her laptop. Nose deep in her work, she managed to drop her backpack, put some sweats on and wiggle into her favorite green shirt with an alien head on it. She grabbed her pair of glasses.

Feeling them on her nose helped her concentrate. And she had been in the habit of wearing them while doing “work” ever since she was little and watched her dad put on glasses to do his more difficult tasks. “And I look smart in them” she admitted to herself with a smile. 

Katie crept out of her room, looking this way and that, down the carpeted hallway. No one in sight, it was a go. She decided to take the elevator to avoid the majority of students mingling about the stairs. The first floors elevator only went to the second, but she could hop into the next elevator which would go to the third floor. 

She kept clicking away at the keys as she rode the elevator. “Hmm, I probably want to be the same age as Matt. Which means I should have been here as long as he has. He is a senior and I’m a freshman. What a jump” she chuckled to herself. 

Avoiding eye contact but still making sure that no one was watching, she slipped from elevator to elevator. It was too easy. She wondered if people snuck to the forbidden floors often. No one was patrolling the elevators or stairs. She just committed the crime without batting an eye. 

Katie looked down at her phone and read the text from Matt. Her brothers room was to the left of the elevator, room 13B. She looked around a bit worriedly, but at this point everyone was in their dorm or downstairs on the second floor. “Perfect” she thought.

Matt opened the door to her knocking and pulled her in quickly. “Matt, if you act so suspicious people are going to suspect something is up.” She said adjusting her glasses. “I’m sure no one will notice.” “Then why are you acting so worried?” Matt gave her a look that said “you know why!” Katie shrugged.

She sat down on his bed and continued tapping away at the keyboard. “So I’m almost copying your file. If we’re twins, then I need to have a similar profile, but not quite. But I think it would sell better if we were here for the same amount of time.” She kept working her fingers as Matt sat down next to her to watch his sister work her magic.

They both decided it would be best to keep their real last name so that Matt didn’t have any problems with transferring credits or being credited improperly. So Pidge, they decided that while she was on the boys floor she would only be called by her other name, decided she’d make up an excuse if anyone asked why her last name was Gunderson instead of Holt.

“I don’t think that the principle will be as creepy as to check on background history.” “At least we hope not, since it’s none existent” Matt added. “I can just be the rebel twin! The one that doesn’t want to be related to his family.” Matt smiled. “Well we can’t say that’s untrue.” Pidge elbowed her brother. “I like our family just fine.”

There was a clink of keys and the door opened. Matt and Pidge held their breath, but it was only Coran. “Oh Kat… Pidge. I see you’ve made it. How goes the… er… homework?” Matt and Pidge gave him blank stares. “I will have to work on my undercover behavior. I know.” 

Coran closed the door behind him and sat down to face them from his side of the room. “Well?” Pidge turned the laptop to show him her new profile. “Pidge Gunderson, Senior.” Coran started. “Hmm, yes that makes sense.” He nodded. “Part-time student, yes. Works at the Starbucks across the street. Ooh, do you get discounts?”

“No! … well maybe” Pidge added after seeing Coran’s face. “Keep reading, I want to see if this makes sense to you. You being the RA and all.” Coran nodded again and continued. “Major in Engineering Science and Minor in Geophysics, how like your brother. You two have such bright minds.” Pidge shrugged “It’s close to what I’m actually studying, so I might as well make it worth while?”

Coran stroked his mustache. “You may be able to transfer those credits to yourself when this is over?” It was a question more so than a statement. Matt and Pidge looked at each other. “Maybe” was the only response. Coran continued to read. “So you’ll be taking 3 classes. Well you have been taking these classes.” He chuckled “Since it says you’ve been registered at the same time as Matt.”

“Yeah! Im taking Physics and Chemistry of the Terrestrial Planets from 8:30am - 11:30am on Monday.  
Extrasolar Planets: Physics and Detection Techniques same time but on Thursday. And then an online class, Thermodynamics of Materials on Friday from 3pm – 5:30pm.” Pidge had rambled off the classes excitedly. They were much more interesting than the required classes she had to take in her first semester as Katie. 

“I’m not really a morning person, so all my classes are around the afternoon. But I guess Pidge Gunderson will have to be a morning person. It’s sad that these classes will be more interesting than the easy ones I have to do as Katie.” She sighed. “I was getting bored with school, so maybe this is good for me.” Matt patted her back. 

“Pidge, I honestly don’t think I’m going to have to help you out with any of these classes.” He laughed. “It’s a good thing this is still very early on in the semester” “thank goodness” Pidge added. Coran handed the laptop back to her. “I’m wishing you good luck. I also came to tell you that I registered you to this room. Technically our dorms are full. But this room is meant for four people so we can get away with it. You are also lucky that third floor inspections are on a different day than the girls, so there wont be any conflict I don’t think.”

Pidge was listening, but also still working on her computer. She had to insert her files into the school data base. She had done this multiple times by now, so she wasn’t worried. Even Matt had relaxed and was now leaning against the bed post. Coran continued. “This is rather exciting isn’t it?” Matt nodded sleepily. “How is this profile picture?” Pidge asked Matt. “Hmm? Well, it looks like you. But you have your glasses on so I guess you’ll pass as my twin? I can tell the difference, but not the others.” He smiled.

Pidge continued working, setting up connections so that if anyone was looking up her profile, she would get alerts and notifications immediately. Even those prying about or trying to access information at Starbucks, which she obviously wasn’t actually going to work at, weren’t going to get very far with her keeping watch.

“There. Everything is set up. Haha, I can’t help the excited butterfly feeling.” She closed her laptop and adjusted the watch she clipped to her wrist. It would serve as a connection to her laptop for times when she didn’t have it in close proximity. Those times would be rare, but she wasn’t about to take unnecessary risks. 

Matt checked his bedside table for the clock. “10 o’clock” he called out. “I don’t know about you two, but I need some R&R” Pidge stood up. “More like beauty sleep, princess.” “Hey now” Matt laughed swatting at her playfully. “Not all of us are night owls.” She smiled. “I know. Well alright then guys. I’ll see you tomorrow. Goodnight” “G’night”


	5. Chapter 5

Pidge made it to her room on the first floor without any problems. She wasn’t surprised to see Allura in her pink silk nightgown sitting on her bed texting. “Hey Allura” the young woman turned at the sound of Pidge entering. “Hello hello Pidge. Are you feeling better?” She set her phone down politely.

Pidge waved her hand to say that she didn’t care if Allura kept texting. “Yea, I got things sorted out. I’m just going to be busy this semester I think.” Allura looked thoughtful. “You already seem to be. Are you working on a new project?” Pidge took her glasses off. “Nope, just finished one actually.”

“Finished making your new identity Pidge?” Allura asked nonchalantly. Pidge nodded and put her laptop on the bed. “Yeah, Matt and I were just showing…” she gasped. “Coran! That blabber mouth!” Allura laughed and held out her phone. “As soon as you left, he told me all about it.” Pidge felt betrayed, but only for a moment.

“Oh Katie, don’t blame him. He is my undercover body guard. He feels oblige to tell me things. You can trust me! Don’t worry!” Allura knelt on the bed to better face her roommate. “I trust you Allura, but you can’t call me Pidge. Not while I’m on this floor.” She emphasized strictly. Allura was more than pleased to comply.

“This is so exciting, so rebellious! How unlike the Katie I know!” “Oh you have no idea…” Katie thought as she plopped onto her pillow. “I didn’t mean for it to happen. That obnoxious kid dragging me into it.” “Lance? Yes I’ve seen him running about. Flirting here and there. He is so flamboyant. I think he and Lotor have a secret competition going on that even they don’t know about” “pfft, I’d vote for Lance over Lotor. But just because I dislike Lotor more.” 

Allura nodded vigorously. “Ooh!” She said angrily. “That Lotor makes my skin crawl. He think’s he is all that. I see him parading around the second floor. There are four girls that always follow him. Those poor things are probably under some sort of spell.” “He must have promised them a share in his glorious kingdom.” Katie joked. “I wouldn’t be surprise.” Allura said with disgust.

“Men. At least Lance wouldn’t actually slap a lady’s bottom in public! Lotor? Oh no, he has no problem with it. It’s terrible Katie!” She threw herself backwards onto her bed. The two girls stared at each other in silence from their pillows. “What is the world coming to?” Allura asked, her voice muffled into her pillow.

Katie shrugged. “I might be on Lotor’s bad list…” Allura’s eyes shot wide open. “You don’t say! What happened?” She propped herself up on an elbow, curious now. “Well I think Lance gave me the precious role in the play that Lotor wanted. Principle Zarkon came in and basically demanded that we give Lotor the understudy. I kinda get the feeling that he’s going to kill me before the show so his son can act.”

Allura’s mouth dropped open. “Principle Zarkon went to see you all? How were you not found out?” Katie wrinkled her nose. “I thought Coran told you all this.” “Oh he did, but he tends to exaggerate the event. Or so I thought. Maybe this time he wasn’t being dramatic with the description. Goodness. This is going to be crazy. If you need any help, you know I’ll give it my all! Girls have to stick together.”

Katie smiled at that. “Yeah, thanks Allura. Hey, can I ask you something?” “Hmm?” “Why did you personally ask that I be your roommate?” Allura looked away for a moment. “Well. I don’t know for certain, but I think it had to do with how quiet and withdrawn you seemed” “I still am a withdrawn quiet person you know.” Allura laughed.

“I suppose you still are. But I appreciated how real you are with yourself and those around you. Being the mayors daughter, I’ve had my fair share of “fake” people. It get’s tiring. But you? You’re my breath of fresh air! Sometimes you are so brutally honest and I love it. No one else would dare to speak that way with me.”

Allura noticed Katie’s face. “Oh no! Please don’t ever stop being you! I don’t want people pretending around me. I don’t like it. Why cant they just be honest? I don’t seem threatening do I? I try to be friendly and inviting, not just because I should be.” Katie smiled into her pillow.

“Allura you’re worrying too much. You are a wonderful human “bean”. Most people like you for more than your status. You are a very gentle person, they cant help but admire you. Trust me, I’m your roommate.” “For only two weeks” “That’s all I need. Just trust people the way you want them to trust you. If you start thinking that people are only your friend because of your position in the world, things will get depressing rather quickly.” 

“Hmm, you’re right. Thanks Katie. I’ll try to keep positive and keep negative thoughts out of my head. I find myself thinking too much at night.” “I’ve noticed.” The two of them laughed. “You get tired and your mind wanders right?” Katie asked. “Yes” Allura sighed. 

“Goodness it is late, we should go to bed. You especially! Tomorrow is your first day being two people!” “Tomorrow is a Thursday… I have my first class as Pidge that I need to be present for. Guess I can try to sleep.” “It’s a morning class right? We have our class after lunch. You can tell me how it goes then.” Katie forced herself out of her bed to go turn the lights out.

“Sure thing” she said as she made her way back in the dark. As Katie got into bed and the girls said their good nights, her phone pinged. She picked it up. “An invitation to a group chat?” She didn’t recognize the number that sent the invite, but she accepted anyways. 

The group was called “The Drama Club.” There were five members, six now that she had joined. “Hey” said the unknown number. “This is Lance. I got your number from Coran, who got it off Matt’s phone. Your bro is out like a rock. Coran says he snores really loud.” Katie squinted in the dark. “I don’t need you to tell me that, I know. Siblings, remember?” “Right…”

“Nice group name. Very original.” “Thanks!” “Don’t be so proud of it” came the response from another unknown number. “Fuck off Keith. Go to your emo corner and sleep.” As the two bickered for a few moments, Katie added the numbers to her contact list. Things went a little like this.

**Group Chat: The Drama Club (and proud!) Lance had added this after his argument with Keith.**

**Lance:** So anyways! I wanted every1 to know that we will have “practice” 2morw. Same room.

 **Keith:** Why the quotation marks on practice?

 **Lance:** cus I really only want to know the scoop…  
On watsup w/ Pidge!

 **Pidge/Katie:** Nothing. I got it sorted. I’ll be in your stupid play.

 **Lance:** That’s the most borring explanation evah! I want juicy details!!!

 **Keith:** I’m outy.  
I might decide to come tomorrow.

 **Lance:** Like I care Keith!!!  
Pidge plz come 2morw  
We have to discuss wht to do 4 the play anyways.

 **Pidge/Kaite:** ugh, fine. I’ll be there.

 **Lance:** Groovy Baby!

 **Unknown Number:** omg Lance, please go to bed! Some of us have school tomorrow and my phone keeps going off.

 **Lance:** Hahah whoops. Sorry Shiro! 

**Shiro:** Hey its whatever. Goodnight.

 **Lance:** NIGHT!  
Psst any1 want to help me draw on Hunks fac?

 **Keith:** NO!

 **Pidge/Katie:** nope

 **Shiro:** BED Lance!

 **Matt:** Go to bed all of you or I’m telling Coran!

 **Lance:** Yikes! Ok, ok. Sssttt ya boy is out.


	6. Chapter 6

Katie wanted to smash her alarm when it went off at “7:00am in the FREAKIN MORNING!! Aaaaaaaaahhh!” Allura poked her head out from the bathroom. “Good morning sleeping beauty! Oh, oh my. No, I’ll just leave you be. I’ll see you at lunch Katie.” She didn’t say another word to her roommate as she got ready for the day.

Katie groaned and let her body slip off her bed. She pulled the blankets down with her onto the floor. She didn’t want to get up. “Pidge I hate you…” she moaned as she shakily stood up. She made her way to the bathroom. “Lord have mercy on anyone who crosses my path today” 

Somehow she managed to get ready in a timely manner. She didn’t bother changing much in her appearance, except that she put on her wide rimmed glasses. They would make her feel like she needed to concentrate on everything today, but the glasses made her look more like Matt and she thought that would be in her best interest.

Yawning she grabbed her heavy backpack and laptop. She considered wearing her baseball cap as she passed it on her way to the door, but then didn’t feel like it. Why did everyone wake up this early? She was surprised to see girls leaving their dorms to make their way upstairs for breakfast. “Morning, good morning.” They all called out cheerfully. 

Katie hated it. Why where they so cheerful? Everything about this morning wasn’t wonderful so stop saying it! The other students must have noticed her grim expression, because no one went near her or bothered to speak with her. She was grateful, because she knew she would have hurt someone.

She made it upstairs to the cafeteria and hurried to grab some breakfast. Having food made her feel a little better. She rubbed her eyes awake and was rudely slapped on the back. “Who the hell!?” Lance stood by her. “And a good morning to you too Pidge!” “Don’t you dare…”

But he did dare, and sat down next to her. “So what are you up to today? I’ve never seen you up this early.” Pidge sighed. “Look, no offense Lance, but I doubt you ever noticed me at any time of the day, except yesterday.” Lance stopped mid bite and held his spoonful of cereal thoughtfully. “That… might be true.” He admitted slowly.

Pidge wasn’t sure if it was because she was so tired or if Lance really just chewed extra loud but she was ready to kill a puppy. The plastic spoon bent in her hand. “Oh here, I have an extra! Hah, I knew it would come in handy.” Lance handed her the new spoon. “Thanks…” she managed through gritted teeth.  
Hunk joined them shortly, and then Matt and Coran. “Aren’t we all early birds?” Coran said happily. Matt laughed. “Bird maybe, early? Nope, not Pidgeon for sure.” Hunk scooted a little further away from her. “How do you guys get up so early!?” Pidge demanded, angrily stabbing her straw into her milk box and ignoring her brothers joke. 

Matt and Coran looked at each other. “You get used to it?” Matt supplied. “You do what you have to.” Shiro said, coming up to their table. “Good morning. I hope some of us got some rest last night.” He glanced over at Lance who pretended to be very interested in his empty bowl. “Oh hey Shiro” he said. Shiro raised an eyebrow in his direction and sat down next to Matt. 

The boys raised their hands in greeting. Lance looked around. “Did uh, anyone see Keith?” Shiro pointed to the juice machines. “He is trying to decide if he wants orange juice or cranberry. Why that’s so difficult is beyond me.” Lance laughed. “Aw, leave the baby only.” He turned to watch Keith. “He is so amusing in the morning.”

Pidge had rested her head in her arms when her watch started to beep. Her head shot up and she pulled her laptop out from her backpack. “Wow great reaction time” Lance commented. “Someone is checking my file!” Pidge said quickly, all business as her fingers clacked across the keyboards quickly. “Is it the principle?” Matt asked, leaning over the table.

Lance and Hunk peered over her shoulders. “Woah” Hunk breathed. “That’s awesome!” “Shh” Pidge insisted. “Sorry, sorry” They watched her work with bated breath. “It’s being accessed from the library. It must be a student.” “Lotor!” Lance announced. “I bet that jackass is pulling up your file!”

“Hold the phone, I can hack into the cameras to check.” Shiro whistled softly. “You’ve got one talented sister” he said quietly to Matt. “I know. It’s pretty handy at times too.” He smiled teasingly. “There!” Pidge pointed at her screen. “It IS Lotor” Lance all but yelled.

“What a sorry excuse for a… what is he…” Lance kept sputtering, his hands flailing in an attempt to find the right words. Keith walked up at that moment and Lance knocked one of the cups out of his hands. Startled, Lance looked over his shoulder. Keith didn’t look happy at all. “Oh hey man, I’m sorry.” Lance said grabbing napkins from the table.

“It’s fine Lance. Don’t touch me. It only splashed on me a little, the rest is on the floor.” “Oh” Lance put the napkins over the spill. “There, saved your life.” Keith sighed and sat down next to Lance with the remaining drink. “I guess it’s orange juice this morning.” “Dude, like that was ever a question!” Lance said. “Shh” Hunk and Pidge said together.

“It’s not like he can hear us!” Lance said defensively scooting away from Pidge. Keith glared at him and made an invisible line on the bench next to him with one hand. “Don’t cross my line or it’s war.” “Yeash, alright, pretty boy.” “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that McClain” “Ugh, don’t use my last name!” But surprisingly they didn’t continue the argument.

Lotor was still at the computer in the library. Pidge, and those that could see, watched as he went through all her public files on the schools database. “It’s a good thing we got those up in time” Matt commented. Pidge nodded. “My work is flawless. To be safe I even locked my public files on Katie. So I don’t exist. He won’t be able to put two and two together.” “Remind me again why we have public profiles at this school?” Lance interjected. 

“Well besides trying to encourage students to get to know other students in their class and school, it also established a mutual… no, I lost it. I can’t think of a good reason.” Shiro shrugged. “It helps us stalk each other.” Keith added as an afterthought. Lance gave him a questioning look but Keith waved him away. 

On the screen, Lotor now closed the files and erased his search history. “Number one creep move!” Lance pointed out. “What’s he doing?” Matt asked worriedly. “He is leaving the library. I guess he found what he wanted?” Pidge zoomed in on his face before he stepped out of the room. He had a satisfied expression. “I don’t like that look” Hunk said nervously wringing his hands.

“Don’t worry about it.” Pidge said closing the laptop. “I’m a professional. I’ve got this under control.” At least she hoped she did. She didn’t like Lotor’s expression either. She looked at the time. She had to go in order to make it to her first class as Pidge Gunderson. “Alright guys. Wish me luck. I’ll see you all later.” She gave them a quick wave and headed out of the cafeteria.


	7. Chapter 7

It was just as hard as last time to sneak up to the third floor. And that wasn’t very hard at all. She found her new classroom quickly and settled in at the back. She would have liked to be in the front of a class that interested her, but she figured she had to be glimpsed in the back before moving forward. “They’ll suspect something if I just pop up out of nowhere at the head of the class.”

She pulled out her laptop and found a not so legal copy of the textbook she needed for the class. Her skills were still saving her money and trouble. She smiled to herself. None of the other students in the classroom seemed to notice a new face sitting in the background, and Pidge was grateful for it. 

The teacher stepped in a few minutes before class was to start. “Settle down boys” he said to the four in the front who were laughing wildly at some joke. They quieted and the teacher set about organizing some paperwork. “Alright then, so lab results will be due in 2 weeks, please bring them in, failing to do so will result in an F for fail, and what kind of a start to the semester would that be?” 

He rambled on and Pidge made sure to take notes about the things she’d need to bring in to BS her way through. She already hacked into the teacher’s personal profile to see the curriculum notes and such, so she had a pretty good understanding of what she missed. And really it was only two classes, so it wasn’t much. 

The class went by smoothly and Pidge found herself engrossed in the subject. It was much more interesting than her beginning classes as Katie. She had made sure to raise her hand and ask questions so that the teacher would notice her. She considered moving to the front next class. 

Pidge gathered her things and stepped out. Her stomach was already grumbling at her for food. As she made her way downstairs she caught someone watching her from the corner of her eye. Turning slightly to adjust a backpack strap she saw Lotor leaning against a wall, eyeing her.  
“What a pervert” she thought with a frown. Of course he thought her to be a boy, but still. Who did that? She shrugged her backpack back on properly and ignored him. Back downstairs she waited in line for food. How did she end up in the same line with the same server from yesterday who took forever?

This time she was not having it. “Hey! Some of us want to eat before the next class.” She called annoyed. The person in front of her shifted awkwardly, but some other students behind her called out agreements. “Sorry man.” The server replied.

He spooned out the food a little more quickly, but only until the grumbling students passed. Pidge didn’t care, she had her lunch. She kept an eye out for Lance to make sure he didn’t bump into her and make her lose her food again. It seemed to be a habit of his, considering yesterday and this morning.

It didn’t take long for Allura to locate her roommate and join her at the table. “Hello Katie. It is Katie right now yes?” Katie nodded, remembering to take off her glasses. “They make just enough of a difference.” Allura commented nodding. “To be safe, you should call me Pidge in public.”

“Will your other friends be joining you for this meal? I saw you all at breakfast, but since you were… well, being Pidge, I thought it might be wise to act as though I didn’t know you.” Pidge was touched by her friends consideration. 

“I’d say that was a smart move, but you can sit with us next time if you want. Technically Pidge is related to Katie so I don’t see why you wouldn’t know him. And besides, Lotor saw me as myself yesterday, so to his knowledge Katie doesn’t exist.” “It’s also a good thing you aren’t too sociable. No one really knows the difference between Katie or Pidge.” Pidge was going to comment that she had friends, but realized that Allura was right, and it was for the best after all. 

“I’d like to think we will be friends” Shiro said as he and Matt found their table. Allura seemed a bit flustered. Pidge was confused by her reaction and thought that she might be shy. Even though it seemed strangely out of character. “Allura, you know my brother Matt since Coran is rooming with him. This is Shiro.” 

Shiro stood to extend a prosthetic hand in greeting. Pidge noticed it for the first time, but thought it impolite to mention. Allura reached hesitantly to shake his hand. Shiro noticed and after shaking her hand he sat quietly for a while.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you officially Shiro.” Allura said, noticing that her hesitation had made him feel self conscious about his hand. “I’m honored” Shiro replied pleasantly, his face still warm. “You’re Pidge’s... Or rather Katie’s roommate?” He asked.

“Why yes, I am.” Allura smiled glad to see that her inconsideration hadn’t done much harm. The two stared at each other for a moment, then looked away having nothing to say. Pidge watched them while she forked food into her mouth.

“Interesting” she thought. “Katie?” “Hmm? Was someone talking to me?” Matt waved a hand in front of her face. “I asked how your class went?” “Oh” she wiped her mouth on her sleeve. “It was a breeze, but really interesting! I’m really liking it a lot. It’s not hard to catch up in either. And don’t forget to call me Pidge.” "But you’re not wearing your glasses?" "Guess I _should_ leave them on." She placed them back on her face.

She paused as Lance and Hunk were seen making their way over. Keith kept a little further behind, probably avoiding Lance’s arm waving dramatically as he spoke with Hunk. Pidge wondered how he didn’t drop the food tray he held in his other hand. “I did see Lotor though” she continued. “He was just there, watching me leave the classroom.”

“What a creeper!” Allura said angrily. “I bet you he was going to speak with the teacher to ask about you.” Pidge thought about it. “You might be right… unfortunately. But” and she shrugged. “It’s only the third class meeting. So time is in my favor. I doubt the teacher would recognize everyone in only three class meetings. I sat in the back too, just in case.”

The three boys had made it to the table and sat down. “What’s up now?” Lance asked immediately. “Lotor is stalking Pidge” Allura explained. “What a creep!” Lance said with a scoff. “Yes! Thank you. I thought so too!” Allura said.

Lance stopped to look at Allura. She had agreed with him and that caught his attention. “Why hello there. I don’t think we’ve met” he said with a charming smile. Allura smiled politely. “You are Lance McClain. I know of you” she said. Lance was visibly surprised. 

“How is it that such a pretty girl knows me but I don’t know of them?” “That really is a wonder” Keith agreed. “Oh shut up” Lance said. Allura turned her attention back to Pidge and Lance lost his chance to continue flirting, for now.

“Ka… Pidge darling, if Lotor keeps following you, you let us know alright?” Pidge nodded. “Sure, but I can take care of myself.” Matt smiled at that comment and Pidge kicked him under the table. “Ow. I was agreeing” “As if” she stuck her tongue out at him. 

He looked sheepish. “That’s what I thought.” She looked around the table at her new group. It had come together rather quickly. “Well really…” she thought “It was Lance that decided to follow me and everyone followed after him. He might be a loud chewing, flirtatious, and egotistical guy. But if they’re sticking around him, maybe he isn’t so bad.” 

Pidge felt a little bad for being so grumpy with him this morning. She’d try harder not to want to kill him if he sat with her again. But for now, she and Allura had a class and then she had to see the idiot at his drama club. “We’ve got to go now. See you all later.” They said their goodbyes and as Pidge turned to leave she saw Lotor watching them from a table not far away. He smiled at her and she felt her stomach drop.


	8. Chapter 8

After seeing Lotor watching her, Katie had been extra careful to make sure she wasn’t being followed as she and Allura went down to their dorm. They had a few minutes before their afternoon class and Katie was getting paranoid. “With Lotor watching me, I can’t keep walking around in the same outfit when I’m being Katie!”

“But Lotor won’t see you here on the first floor.” “He has those girls that follow his every bidding! I just don’t feel safe.” Allura tapped her lips with a manicured nail. “Then let’s change your appearance drastically so if any of those girls saw you, they wouldn’t even think you were related to Pidge.”

Katie stopped to consider that. “But how? All I have are, well, these clothes that got me in trouble in the first place.” She pulled at her baggy sweater. Allura clapped her hands together. “Katie! You can borrow mine! And makeup! We MUST do makeup!”

“Uhm. I don’t do makeup…” Her roommate laughed. “No silly, I shall do it for you! Oh this will be so fun!” Katie was frowning, but she knew if she wanted to look different, to look like a girl, Allura was her best chance at it.

She took a deep breath, “okay, do your worst!” Allura squealed in delight and started rummaging through her drawers and closet. After trying on several outfits, she settle on skinny jeans “gross” and a nice blouse. Allura was taller than Katie, so she had to scrunch the extra length of the pants around her ankles. 

“It’s fine, no one will notice. It can be a fashion thing.” Allura reassured her with a wave of the hand. “Now makeup!” Katie obediently sat down, closed her eyes, bit her lip and tried not to sneeze as Allura started her masterpiece. 

They were cutting it close to their class time, but they had done it. Katie stared at her reflection in the mirror. “Wow, Allura. This isn’t me.” She said quietly as she turned her head this way and that looking at the girl with honey colored eyes that popped flatteringly with the eyeliner and shadow Allura had picked.

“I think you look absolutely lovely. It’s a pity we are going to a girls only class.” Katie shook her head. “No way I’d go anywhere looking like this. I feel so weird. So alien…” Allura handed Katie her backpack. “Come on, we’ll be late.” She encouraged. 

Once in class, Katie scribbled on sticky notes while Allura played the perfect student. She diligently took notes and her hand shot up to answer every question. No one seemed to mind. The freshmen didn’t want to answer. This was a required Public Speaking class that they had to take and no one, well maybe some, wanted to sit through the teacher speaking poetically. 

Allura on the other hand was enchanted, or so it seemed. “She is much better than the personal tutor I had when I was younger.” She told Katie on multiple occasions. Katie shrugged. She didn’t intend to do the public speaking stuff. She liked to hide behind her computer and let her tech do the talking.

Just because she was introverted, didn’t mean that she didn’t pay attention in class. Her teacher thought otherwise and often picked her out to answer questions, testing if she had been listening. But today she seemed to have trouble locating Katie among her classmates.

“Katie, what is the most important tool we have as public speakers?” She asked still scanning the rows of students. “Our voices are our main tools. An engaging voice pulls in the audience and maintains the attention of our listeners.” Katie answered word for word from the textbooks while still scribbling on her notes. 

“Where are you Katie?” “Right here.” She said raising her head. Her teacher looked confused, but continued. “Hmm… very good. I see you manage to still pay attention even when acting like you’d rather be anywhere else.” Katie heard the teasing tone in her teachers voice. “You would be correct m’am” she smiled mischievously. Her teacher gave her a disapproving look as the other students giggled.

Class was out soon enough and Katie had managed to do some work of her own during that time. She knew she’d have a hard time keeping Katie and Pidge as separate people if someone was keeping an eye on her. “If Lotor is going to stalk me, I’ll have to stalk him back!” 

So she hacked into the cameras around campus and set them up to recognize Lotor’s face. Her computer would then alert her when they picked up his image. And just to be safe she hacked into his phones GPS so she could track his movement around campus.

“Let’s see you try finding me now” she muttered under her breath. “Find who?” Allura asked tapping Katie’s shoulder making her jump. “Never mind. Katie, that was almost hysterical!” Allura was beaming. The teacher didn’t recognize you at all. In fact I don’t think anyone did!

Katie felt her face self consciously. “I guess mission disguise Katie worked.” “Yes and very well to! I’ve got my bags, want to go to dinner now?” Katie quickly shoved her belonging into her backpack. “Sure. But let me stop back in our room so I can change back into more comfortable clothes.”

“You know I was thinking in class about what you told me about locking your public files.” Allura said as they entered their room. “No one can access them right?” Katie nodded, grabbing her hoodie again. “Well, no one I don’t want seeing them. I’ll be alerted if someone searches my exact name, Katie Holt.” She had told Allura about Lotor looking up her information when they were doing her makeup.

“So if one of our teachers is trying to put grades in, will your file be there?” Allura reapplied her make-up. “It’s a shame you have to take yours off.” She added as a side note. “Yes. As I have it now, when one of my teachers accesses my profile under their ID it will go through. But if I don’t give a user permission it will not show up. And no it’s wonderful to take this face paint off. My skin needs to breath.”

“You’re so clever Katie!” “On that note” Katie said, back in her normal clothing and rubbing the makeup off her face with a wipe. “Could you call me Pidge any time that we aren’t on the first floor?” Allura smiled, happy to be in on the secret. “I can do that for you, Pidge.” “Hey we are still on the first floor” Katie laughed.


	9. Chapter 9

The two girls made their way to the cafeteria. As soon as they were seated, Pidge’s watch alerted her that Lotor had also entered the room. She fixed her glasses onto her face and scanned the room. There he was, elegantly walking, a trail of girls behind him. Pidge slurped from her straw and nodded in his direction.

Allura casually turned her head to check behind her. “Oh he’s back with his court of jesters is he now?” “Ah. Looks like it.” Pidge said putting her drink down. He seemed to notice that he was being watched because he looked around. Pidge and Allura looked away, but too late it seemed. Lotor waved his hand at his followers and they grudgingly dispersed. Allura stared hard at the table and whispered, “He is coming this way…” 

Pidge looked up in alarm and sure enough, Lotor was making his way to their table. She watched him all the way until he stopped to stand behind Allura. “Hello darling” he said to her in a silk tone. Pidge slurped her drink very loudly. “And… whatever your name is.” He said glancing at her.

Allura gave Pidge a look that might’ve said “Kill me now” before she turned in her seat to face Lotor. He was smiling radiantly at her and if Pidge didn’t find him to be a sickening person, she might have found him rather attractive at that moment. Allura did not. “Hello Lotor, how may I help you?” she said in an almost mockingly sweet tone.

Her tone of voice didn’t phase him though and he moved a little over to her left to place a foot on the seat. Leaning over to get closer, Pidge wondered if this move worked on other girls, he continued. “This weekend is the formal welcome ball hosted by the dance club, which you know I am a part of. Everyone is invited, and I need a plus one.” He winked at Allura and Pidge almost choked on her straw.

“It is true I am aware of the dance, also being a member of the dance club, but I already have a “plus one” Lotor.” This took him by surprise and he pulled back a little, only to regain his composure and struggle to put the smile back on his face. “You’re plus one isn’t close by is he?” He shot a dirty glance in Pidge’s direction. 

“Hah! If only. I actually wouldn’t mind going if only to annoy you… although it might dig my grave deeper” Pidge smiled behind her hands which she had folded in front of her face, elbows propped onto the table. Allura looked back at her friend, noticing the silent stare down between the two. “Well I…” she started, but Lotor jumped to conclusions.

“So because you’re her roommates brother, you think you get privileges?” He demanded, attention now on Pidge. Her smile dropped, and so did her stomach. How did he know about Katie? Wait, his dad was the principle so of course he had looked up who shared a room with the love of his life. He must have done so at the beginning of the semester, before she locked her file! “You know, spying on people because you consider yourself to be privileged is rude” she retorted angrily.

Now it was Lotor’s turn to be offended and he stood up straight. “I’m not spying on who shares a room with Allura!” “You practically admitted to it!” Pidge wanted to shout at him, but she kept her cool. “Allura asked Katie to go to the dance, but Katie is VERY antisocial and doesn’t like to leave the first floor or her bedroom much if at all. So she asked ME to take Allura and I said YES!” Alright so she didn’t quite keep her cool, but at least she wasn’t standing threateningly. 

Lotor now fumed, “I don’t know why I bothered with Lance when YOU are my real problem!” “Don’t compare me to Lance!” Pidge commanded. Now she was standing. “Why don’t you take a hint and leave Allura alone! Just because your parents get along doesn’t mean that you two will get along, in fact you’re making her feel awkward!” Lotor frowned, but he didn’t say anything right away.

Pidge suddenly felt like she had gone to far, that wasn’t for her to say. She looked at Allura and was surprised to see gratitude in her eyes. Or was that embarrassment, maybe both? She abruptly sat down and mumbled something about her dinner getting cold over a stupid argument. Lotor also took a calming breath. But this time he turned to Allura.

“I apologize if I made you feel awkward, having this fight in front of you. But I will not stop in my attempts of making you mine.” This comment was reflected in his determined expression. “You will see, I am clearly the best man for you!” He turned on his heels and attempted to elegantly walk away, but it was more like delicate stomping.

Allura was bright red in the face and her lips were pulled into a trembling line. She played with her hair self consciously as she stared down at the table. With Lotor walking away, Pidge now noticed all the attention she had called upon them by yelling. “What are you all looking at?” She demanded from those still watching the two and whispering. “Gosh, all the drama is retarded…” she said trying to finish her dinner before it did get cold.

“Uhm Pidge…” Allura began. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to.” Pidge said looking at her plate. “He is such an arrogant assuming jerk. I wasn’t going to make any comments I swear, but then he started off on me and I never could handle people’s stupidity. As if you NEED to go with him, as if you don’t have a choice, as if it matters if I am the one who took you, or anyone else besides him for that matter.”

She took a breath and would have continued if Allura hadn’t burst into laughter. “What?” She asked suddenly feeling embarrassed. “Oh Pidge, darling! Please don’t apologize! You were perfectly wonderful. I’m very grateful that you stood up for me. If I had said those things, which trust me I would have, my father surely would have given me a talk. Besides, coming from me, Lotor would have brushed them aside. I have been telling him I am not interested, but he never stopped to consider my words. But you! He actually couldn’t respond!” 

Pidge adjusted her glasses on the bridge of her nose. “I suppose that’s true. But now I am another competitor, not only for the role he wanted in the play but for the girl he likes. That’s not going to help me stay low.” She said pushing her food tray to the side and resting her arms on the table. She was put out by all the effort she had just made. “I’m not used to interacting with people… I feel exhausted”

“Well in any case, thank you.” Pidge smiled up at her. “You’re welcome.” Then she realized what she had promised to do. “Allura, I don’t know much in the ways of formal dancing.” She admitted. Allura waved her hand dismissively. “I’m practically a dance instructor. I’ve been dancing all my life. I can easily teach you the basics to the waltz and whatever else you would like to know.” Pidge nodded unenthusiastically.

She still was Katie, and Katie didn’t want to leave the comfort of her room to look like a fool in front of a large crowd in two days. But to keep Allura safe from Lotor, she could tough it out. She sighed and noticed Lance waving his long arms above his head to catch her attention. Once he saw her raise an eyebrow at him he pointed to his wrist, indicating the time. “Oh, I have to go find out what role I have in the play. I am in all this trouble and I still don’t know over what yet.”

Allura smiled comfortingly at her. “You’ll do fine at whatever it is. Just be as enthusiastic as you were moments ago and you’ll do fine!” Pidge gave her friend a playful exaggerated frown. “Like this?” She asked pulling her lips down further into a sad face. Allura batted at her arm “Yes now get going before Lance comes over here and starts flirting! I’ve had enough of boys today!” “Oh the horror of being beautiful.” Pidge replied throwing her arm dramatically over her face. “Get out of here!” Allura laughed. And Pidge was happy to comply.


	10. Chapter 10

Lance walked her up to the theater room again, talking about how he saw her fight with Lotor and how she had his full respect now. “Not that you didn’t before with all your hacking and epic skills.” He assured her. “But you just faced off with Lotor, Lance style.” He threw his arms in front of him as if to write “Lance style” on a billboard. Pidge wasn’t really listening anymore.

They entered the big room and the others were waiting for them by the stage. “I thought you ditched out on us.” Hunk said with relief as he saw her. “I don’t think Lance would let me…” Pidge commented dryly. She got on stage and moved her stool next to Matt who had waved her over. “Hey, how was the day?” “Fine.” But Lance had launched into explaining her fight with Lotor the moment he got on stage.

Matt looked worried as always. “Piiidge” he sighed softly. “What happened, happened. I’ll handle it.” She shrugged. “Can someone please tell me my role now?” She asked impatiently. “Sure thing” Lance said handing her a script. In large bold letters the word “Prince” was at the top of the paper. “The Prince!?” she asked in dismay.

Lance struck a princely pose “Yes! You get to be the daring, handsome prince, who fights off the monsters to save your darling princess!” Pidge held her script away from her, pinched between two fingers as if it smelled bad. “Dare I ask who the princess is?” Everyone, expect Lance, seemed suddenly preoccupied. “Why none other then moi!” He said said drawing out the French word as he placed a hand on his chest. 

Pidge started laughing. “I see now why you didn’t want Lotor to be the prince! But I’m sure if you told him who the princess was being played by he would have declined the role very quickly.” “Hey!” Lance said sounded offended, but he got over it quickly. “But think about how awesome it will be since he still has the understudy. I’m basically ensuring your safety. You’re welcome in advance.” 

“Oh” Pidge hadn’t considered that. “Why do you think none of us wanted your role?” Asked Keith. Lance ignored his comment and presence. “Now then, I’ve already got the crew working on our props and the music majors are working on the accompaniment. So we just need to run through our lines today and get a feel for how we will be verbalizing. Acting won’t come in until we at least have half the script memorized and I want to hear you being emotional people!” Lance instructed.

“Uhm, I figure it’s a fairytale based play, but which one?” Pidge asked, looking through her lines and still not being entirely sure. “Oh of course! We are doing “The Pirate’s Princess!” It’s my personal spin on Cinderella!” Lance turned away from them all to bask in his glory. “Oh…” said Pidge not to excitedly. “What’s…” Behind his back everyone frantically made gestures for Pidge not to ask her question, but it was unfortunately already out of her mouth “… the story?” 

Lance turned to her with a hand on his chin and a silly grin on his face. “I’m glad you asked!” Everyone groaned as Lance launched into his description of his play.

_Cinderella is a maid working at the castle under the watchful eye of the head cook and her two ugly daughters. There are rumors that magical glass slippers exists hidden deep within the castle. If you find them, you are bound to find your true love and you’re life will be full of happiness. Cinderella wants happiness in her life and to get away from the cook and her daughters who should be working, but instead make her do all the work while they flirt with the soldiers. With the help of her fairy godmother, she sneaks away one night down into the dungeons where there is suppose to be a secret tunnel. She finds it and the glass slippers. When she puts them on, they fit her feet perfectly but won’t come off!_

_At the same time the pirate King heard of the magical shoes in the kingdom and wants them. So many a pirate send their crew to hunt for them. Captain Nathaniel sends his apprentice Alexios to sneak into the castle and pretend to be a soldier while looking for the shoes. Cinderella now wears long skirts to hide the glass slippers firmly stuck on her feet. She sees the two sisters Philipa and Prim flirting with Alexios. They trip her to embarrass her in front of him, making sure that she has no chance to woo him, and he sees one of her glass slippers._

_She runs away and decides to live in the forest now that people know she has the slippers and her life is surely in danger. She is lost and her life is miserable so her fairy godmother does as she asks and puts her into a deep sleep in a tall tower and brings great brambles around it to protect her. Only one with a pure heart can go through to save her. Alexios tries to find her but can not. He asks around the castle about Cinderella and through all the information he learns about her, he realizes they are similar and he actually falls in love with her._

_When he returns to Captain Nathaniel and tells him that he can not find the slippers, he is kicked off the crew. The captain sends another cruel pirate, Frederick, to go kill Cinderella, for news already spread of her owning them. Alexios is determined to find Cinderella and whisk her away to safety with him. So when he hears rumors around town about a tower and brambles that came up magically from the forest he goes to investigate. He has to take on three test while he is making his way through the brambles._

_One tests his courage, the other his honesty and the third his kindness. He passes all three and finds Cinderella in the tower asleep. He kisses her awake from the spell. But Frederick had followed Alexios, being informed by the evil sisters and their mother. There is an epic fight and Cinderella wishes she was somewhere safe with Alexios. Her shoes magically transport them away. They are able to go wherever they want to go with her magic glass slippers. But the Pirate King will hunt them down forever._

_So Cinderella decides to go talk to him. She is able to convince him to leave them alone by being bold and brave. Quite frankly, the shoes are stuck to her feet anyways. The Pirate King commands that they are left alone. So they live happily every after!_

Pidge’s eye twitched. Lance was so passionate in explaining his play that he practically acted it all out on his own. “You made this up?” was all she could ask. “Yeah I did! I’m not the director, actor, or head of the theater group for nothing you know!” He said defensively. 

She let out a snort. “You know, this sounds incredibly crazy. This play I mean. But heck, it’s going to be pretty awesome isn’t it?” Lance was pleased with that, and let it show on his face. “See Keith, someone likes my play.” Keith rolled his eyes. “Alright, listen up, this is what we’re going to do.”

With script in hand, everyone sat in a circle and ran through their lines together. The role assignment went like this:

 **Lance as Cinderella:** A young girl who has big dreams to seek adventure and fall in love, but is stuck slaving away in the castles kitchen. She appears sweet and innocent, but actually has the strength and courage to stand up against the Pirate King.

 **Pidge as Alexois:** A young lad who wants to be free from his pirate apprenticeship and hopes for freedom by finding the magic slippers. He also seeks adventure of his own and wants to find love and settle down. “He is the typical hero that people need to root for.” Lance informed Pidge. “So be lovable!”

 **Keith as Frederick:** The easily angered, cruel, mean, nasty, sly, evil… “okay I get it!” yeeeet dashingly handsome villain of the story. Competing with Alexios since day one on the ship, he is frustrated that Alexois gets to go find the glass slippers and he has to stay behind. So when given the chance he is determined to prove himself better than Alexios. 

**Hunk as the Pirate King:** “Oh yeah!” “I’m glad you’re excited Hunk.” Ruthless ruler of the sea. He demands respect from all his “lowlife” subjects. His name alone strikes fear into the hearts of men for he is know for his cruelty to all and mostly his victims. His word is law and he gets what he wants. He is an unescapable force. “Uh, do you think I can do this?” “Yes! Just think how you would act once you become head chef in your kitchen!” “Ooooh okay.”

 **Matt and Coran as the Evil Sisters and Ensemble:** “Now you may be tempted to say you have a small part, but you guys are the most important! We need all parts, and main parts would be nothing without the small roles!” “Thanks for the encouragement…” Daughters of the Head Chef in the castles kitchen. They believe they are seductively beautiful and spend the majority of their day flirting with the soldiers and any male unfortunate enough to cross their path. The rest of their time is spent bossing Cinderella around and making her look bad in front of others. 

**Shiro as the Evil Head Chef/Mother:** She is as cruel to Cinderella as her daughters and would bother her more if she wasn’t actually a busy woman. She always finds some tedious task for Cinderella to perform while she frets about her appearance in-between her work. She does not think highly of anyone beside herself and lets everyone know. “Shiro, you just seem to be the right fit as a motherly figure.” “What? Why?” “It’s just… right. See the others agree.” “Well, okay?”

 **Ensemble:** Include the soldiers, townsfolk, pirates, and other minor roles.

“For now, I’m still getting our extra actors.” Lance continued after they ran through their scripts several times. “They’ll join us next meeting, but they won’t need to be rehearsing much since they might have one or two lines to say.” He clapped his hands together. “I think we are off to a good start! Any comments?” He looked around the small group but no one made a sound. 

They were afraid to get Lance started on another rant and it was rather late by now. “Alright then, you are all dismissed.” He waved a hand at them. “Make sure to keep practicing your lines! Our play is next month, and it will come sooner than you expect! They all said their goodbyes and Pidge was happy to see her bed when she got back to her room. Allura was already asleep, and it didn’t take long for Pidge to join her in dreamland.


	11. Chapter 11

It was Friday, and Katie was content to sleeping in. She didn’t have any classes, except the online one later in the day. But she wouldn’t need to be physically present for that one so she intended to stay in her pajamas as long as she could. Allura seemed to have other plans though. “Kaaaaatieeee” she called softly.

Katie sleepily opened one eye to look up at her roommate. “Allura… it’s too early.” She mumbled turning her head back into her pillow. “But Katie! You have to learn how to dance so you don’t make a fool of yourself tomorrow!” Katie shot up in bed. “The dance is TOMORROW!?” Allura pulled away in surprise. “Why, y, yes. Tomorrow is Saturday after all.”

Katie rubbed her eyes. “Ugh. But I don’t want to get up… I don’t mind making a fool of myself.” She started to fall back onto her bed, but Allura caught her by the arms. “Katie Holt! For both of our own sakes, please wake up so we can learn to dance. You don’t want Lotor sneering the whole time at how badly you dance!” Katie growled something abut “screw Lotor” but pushed herself out of bed and shuffled toward the bathroom.

She was still brushing her teeth when Allura peeked in. “Since I got you stuck with going to the dance with me, I took the liberty of getting you a suit.” She said happily, producing said article of clothing. Katies eyes went wide and toothpaste almost dripped onto her shirt. She spat it out into the sink before she drooled on herself.

“Allura, this suit is so nice! I haven’t even seen Matt wear one that was so elegant! This must have been expensive…” “Oh not at all! I do have connections darling.” She said with a cheeky smile. That made Katie feel a little better. “But still, you didn’t…” “Nonsense! If you showed up in anything less than this, Lotor would have made a scene. I refuse to let him find some reason to call you insignificant.” 

Katie felt touched that Allura cared for her to go through all the trouble of acquiring such a fine suit just so she wouldn’t look dumb tomorrow. “Alright, let me get some proper clothes on and we can go to the dance studio.” Allura squealed in delight. “Hurry, hurry! I even brought you down breakfast!” “Allura!” Katie gasped. Allura just smiled and waved her hand. “I’m excited! So hurry up!”

The two of them made their way to the dance studio as Katie shoved the last mini bagel into her mouth. They were going to the girls dance studio on the first floor, since obviously Allura couldn’t go to the third floor with Pidge. So still trying to keep undercover, incase Lotor’s followers were around, Katie put on some light makeup and a skirt. “I haven’t seen the generals.” Allura said looking this way and that. 

They had dubbed the four girls who were always within close proximity to Lotor as his “generals”. It was an inside joke and a codename they had begun using. Katie also glanced around. “Guess we aren’t being followed today” She said with a shrug. 

They entered the dancing room to find other students brushing up on their skills. “We aren’t the only ones worried about making fools of ourselves.” Allura laughed. “You aren’t the one that has to worry!” Katie reminded her. Katie put on the dress shoes she’d be wearing to the dance and hoped that none of the other girls noticed that they were mens shoes. 

She wouldn’t have to worry though. Everyone was too concerned with making sure they got their steps right. Allura walked her through the basic of the waltz and a few other more formal dances. Katie found them to be rather simply and she was able to lead Allura around the dance floor gracefully enough. She stumbled the first time around, but Allura was able to steady her before she fell over.

“Let’s hope that doesn’t happen tomorrow.” Katie said with a sigh as she straightened herself out. “You’re doing very well! You’re a natural dancer. I’ve taught clumsier people. I’m not worried about tomorrow.” She smiled encouragingly at Katie. “If you’re not worried about me making us look ridiculous, maybe I shouldn’t worry either.” “That’s the spirit!”

The two danced for an hour or two before they both decided they had had enough. “We can practice a little latter today if you still don’t feel confident. But the formal dancing really only lasts half the night. Then more modern free style dancing follows. Like at a club, but not as rowdy of course.” Allura tried to explain. 

Katie didn’t mind either way. She’d dance when Allura wanted to and then probably just sit the rest of the night out, watching if she couldn’t escape to her room. From the excited chatter up and down the halls it seemed like everyone was going to the dance tomorrow night. Katie didn’t really share in their excitement, but Allura did. She stopped on there way back to their dorm several times to chit chat with the other students.

Quite a few girls where in dance class with Allura and wanted to show off their skills. Katie suddenly felt out of place in all the girly talk and giggles. She was never one to be found in a frilly dress and makeup, flirting with boys. They were stopped once again and Katie told Allura she’d meet her back in their room. Allura apologized but Katie let her know it was fine. Just because she couldn’t be excited about something didn’t mean Allura couldn’t be. 

So instead she sat in her room and read through her lines for the play. She was reading through the part where Alexios was struggling through the three test before he could save Cinderella from her sleep. She threw a hand over her heart and recited “I come to save my one true love! I know she is imprisoned here in this tower. I will lay my life down in order to save hers.”

Pretending to be the fairy godmother in disguise as she tested Alexios, she said in a softer voice. “A king had three daughters, one gave him gold to show him how much she loved him. The second jewels of every kind. The third gave her father a bottle of salt. Which daughter do you think loved her father more?” 

“Why of course, my lady, the daughter who gave her father the bottle of salt!” Katie triumphantly puffed her chest out, completely in character. In fact she was so much in character that she didn’t notice Allura entering the room. “Without salt, food would be tasteless and you could not continue to eat it. Therefore the youngest daughter was most wise and loved her father more!” Katie threw both her arms out in front of her. “Tell me, dear lady, am I wrong?”

“You are not wrong” Allura said, and Katie almost fell over in surprise. “I do hope you act like that on stage!” Allura said laughing and helping her friend to her feet. Katie rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. “Well, I always liked acting. Matt and I had this game we would play when we were little. I was the mighty Pidge Gunderson defender against injustice…. And neglected puppies...” she added the last part quietly. 

“That sounds fun, who was Matt?” Katie laughed. “Matt was always the villain. Looking back at it, he was terrible at being bad. But it was always fun. Making spaceships out of cardboard boxes and foiling his evil plans to dominate the world.” She sighed contently. “Good ole days.” “I bet you two were pretty amusing to watch.” Allura chuckled. 

Katie nodded. “I’m sure my parents have stories if you ask. Though I don’t suggest it.” Her roommate smirked. “I might just have to now.” Katie’s stomach grumbled reminding her it was lunch time. She looked up at Allura who was already walking to the door. “I’m glad your stomach keeps us on schedule.” She commented. “Only when it comes to food.” The two laughed as they headed upstairs.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Where are my Klance fans!? >w<

At the same time that Allura was busy waking Katie up, Lance was making his way to the boys dance studio on the third floor. He was aware that Lotor was in dance club and wanted to make sure he could at least dance on par with the principles son. “Lotor always thinks he’s the best just because he has girls fawning over him. Pfft, well what does it matter, I’ve got girls lining up for me too!” 

He made his way down the hallway grumbling to himself when the door in front of him opened and he walked right into it. “Ow! What the hell man! It’s too early to be harassing people.” Keith peered around the door. “Huh, who would have thought. I couldn’t have timed that more perfectly even if I was trying to actually hit you.”

Lance felt his nose. “Am I bleeding!?” A smudge of red was on his hand when he pulled it away. “Dude! If you broke my nose! I swear!” Keith scoffed “You what? Come here, I’ll grab some paper” He held the door open for Lance to enter the room. Keith shared a room with Shiro, but his roommate was not inside. 

“Shiro likes to go to the gym first thing in the morning.” Keith explained as Lance raised an eyebrow, hand pinching the bridge of his nose. “Oh I szee…” He said in a nasal tone. Keith stepped into the bathroom to grab some toilet paper and handed it to Lance. “Thankz” He said as he twisted the paper and plugged his nose.

Keith sighed. “Where were you going? You don’t get up this early usually.” Lance scoffed. “What? Of courz I do…” The two stood in silence for a little bit and then Lance turned away. “Okay, okay. I waz juzt going to the danze ztudio to practize.” He admitted sheepishly. Keith laughed. “Lance, you don’t have to practice dancing. You’re already pretty good at it.”

Lance gave him a look. “Sayz who? You? Your tazte in men haznt been the bezt lately. And none of em could danze. I don’t think you can eizer.” He pointed out skeptically. Keith bristled “It’s not your place to judge my taste in men! And I can dance!” Lance managed to pull one of his stupid smiles even with a piece of toilet paper stuck up his nose. Keith felt hot in the face.

“If you can danze, why don’t you come with me to practize? It’z not eazy danzing a waltz alone you know.” Keith scowled at Lance. He wouldn’t say, but he did feel bad for giving Lance a nose bleed first thing in the morning. “Just to practice the waltz?” He asked not looking at Lance. “Yep, just to practize the watlz. I’m zure you can uze the practize too.”

Keith sighed again. “Fine, what the hell. But then we are even. Don’t go telling everyone I gave you a bloody nose.” Even though Keith knew he would anyway. Lance smiled triumphantly. “Naw, thiz bloody noze is worth it.” Keith frowned at him and turned to walk out the door. He opened it more slowly this time just in case.

The two boys made their way down the hallway cautiously. Lance didn’t want to get hit in the face again and Keith wasn’t too excited to be caught going to the dance studio with Lance. To both of their reliefs no one saw them on their way and no more doors swung outward to hit Lance in the face. They made it to the dance studio and Lance peeked in.  
“No one that I really know.” Lance commented and Keith looked through to double check. Just a few guys from the dance club and a few first years. But no one that either of them knew well enough to feel awkward around. Scratch that, Keith felt very awkward as soon as they stepped inside and Lance held out his hand for him to take.

It wasn’t that Keith didn’t know how to dance, but this was Lance and Lance was. Well. Lance. Keith had seen him dance. The boy could move and every time he did Keith found himself staring. Lance wiggled his hand impatiently, “Come on pretty boy.” He said teasingly. “No one iz watching.” Lance still had toilet paper up his nose and Keith couldn’t take his flirtatious manner seriously. 

He took Lance’s hand and placed the other on his shoulder as Lance moved to put his hand on Keith’s hip. The two looked at each other for a moment, as Lance pulled Keith in closer. Without a word they began to waltz, clumsily at first, but soon they were gliding gently. Keith wasn’t sure if he started stumbling because Lance was so close or because the thought of others judging or watching them made him self conscious .

“It’s hard dancing without music.” Keith decided this was the reason he was so flustered. Lance looked a bit surprised since he thought they had been doing well till just a few moments ago. “I have my IPod?” Keith broke loose from Lance’s arms. “Yeah, music would help…” He said stepping back a little bit. Lance shrugged and fumbled in his pocket.

Keith looked around the room quickly while Lance was busy picking a song. No one was watching them. They were all busy doing their own thing. He sighed with relief. “Aha” Lance said as he tapped his IPod. Someone Like You by Adele started playing instrumentally in a slow waltz. Keith never agreed with Lance’s taste in music, but Lance was already swaying his hips to the slow beat and twirled himself.

He held out a hand to Keith again with a smile playing on the corner of his lips. Keith didn’t have a second excuse so he took his hand again and they started dancing once more. This wasn’t helping. The music wasn’t helping. Keith still felt warm in the face and he kept glancing around. And then Lance started singing! He started singing the words to Adele’s song and Keith was about to lose it.

He couldn’t be sharing this moment with Lance! He started to feel guilty and he didn’t know why. Lance stopped singing and noticed Keith’s distress. “Hey, don’t worry about them.” He nodded his head towards the others. “They’re not even watching. Bezides, it’z juzt uz right now.” Yes, YES! That was exactly the problem. It was just _them_ right now. Keith let go of Lance’s hand and gently pushed him away.

“I’ve proved to you that I can dance, and your moves seem to be just fine.” He said a bit dryly. “Well, yeah I guesz zo.” Lance replied looking at his face searchingly. He knew something was bothering Keith, but he didn’t know what. “I don’t mind if we keep danzing juzt for fun though.” He said a bit quietly.

Keith looked up at him sharply. “Why would I dance with _you_ for fun?! I was just dancing to prove to you that I could and because I felt bad for smashing your face in this morning.” “That’z all?” Lance asked. “Yah that’s all! Screw this I’m going.” He stormed pass Lance and out the door.

Now the others were watching with confusion. It seemed to them that the two had been dancing rather well and compatibly. “Did they just break up?” Someone asked in a whisper. No one answered the question as it lingered in the air. Lance sighed and turned off his IPod. 

He had asked Keith to come dance with him to tease him. He hadn’t expected him to actually agree. And then they were dancing and he felt happy about it, and he was genuinely enjoying himself. Keith was easy to dance with even though any other time the two seemed to end in an argument.

Well, they had ended in a bit of an argument. But it felt one sided. Or were his feelings of having fun dancing with Keith one sided. That seemed to be the case. He shoved his IPod back into his pocket and headed out of the dance studio. He wouldn’t tell anyone about this, maybe he should just forget it too.


	13. Chapter 13

Hunk had just pulled himself out of bed and was still rummaging through his closet for an outfit for the day when Lance sulked in. “Morning Lance” He called out. If he wasn’t so tired he would have found it odd that his roommate was up before him. But Hunk was awake enough to realized that Lance hadn’t answered in his usual “go get em” morning cheer. 

He paused what he was doing and went to sit on the bed next to Lance. “Hey, what’s up?” He asked nudging Lance softly. Lance let his head fall onto Hunks shoulder and he heaved an immensely pitiful sigh. Hunk’s eyebrows drew in together. “Is this a code _red_?” Lance just nodded and sniffed.

Hunk took a breath, preparing himself for the rant to come, but it didn’t. Now he was wide awake. It was very unlike Lance to just sit there quietly instead of wave his arms and bounce around the room explaining his current drama. Hunk was almost alarmed. “That bad, huh?” Lance sighed deeply again. “Yeah.”

“Are you going to tell me about what Keith did this time to upset you? Besides just being himself.” Lance rolled his head off his roommates shoulder and let it hang for a moment. Then he inhaled sharply and threw his head back with a groan. “WHY IS HE SO STUPID!?” He yelled at the ceiling. Hunk just patted Lance’s back. He was glad to see that Lance was just fine after all. The kid could always bounce back. 

“I woke up early to go get my dance on and then Keith opened the door in my face and gave me a bloody nose, so I guilted him into coming to practice with me and I thought it was going fine and then he went and was stupid and made it awkward and…” He stopped to take a breath.

“And now I feel stupid… and hurt” he mumbled. Hunk frowned. This sounded worse then the other times. Lance just shook his head, “You don’t have to say anything Hunk. Just, thanks for listening. I can get my shit together.” He rubbed the back of his neck which hurt after all his exaggerated movements. Hunk shrugged. “Hey, it’s fine. You know I’m always here to listen to you and help when I can. But when it comes to Keith, I don’t know what to tell you.”

Lance fell back onto the bed. “Yeah, I’m a mess.” “Why don’t you just tell him?” “Tell him what exactly?” “Oh come on Lance. You’ve been head over heels with Keith since school started. And then you found out he was gay, after what Lotor did, and your hopes skyrocketed faster than the New Horizons Probe!” Lance made a face behind Hunk’s back. “Your point?” 

“Stop dancing around him and just tell him you like him.” Lance let out another groan. “Hunk. I’ve dated both men and women so it’s not like I don’t know what I’m doing. But Keith... He’d never like me. He’s different than the other people I’ve liked. I don’t know how to explain it really. He’s just Keith. He’s hotheaded and temperamental, but I love that. We’re always clashing. But it’s so fun to tease him and I love to see him react. And then there is his adorable vulnerable self that I can’t help looking for. Like in the mornings, when he’s not quite awake, and he doesn’t give a shit about what happens. He doesn’t yell at me then. It’s something special.”

Lance sighed happily, but then his tone became serious. “I don’t want to risk losing all that by telling him how I feel. If he doesn’t like me back, dude, I could ruin everything. I’d rather have any Keith over no Keith. And he is definitely the type to avoid awkward situations, so he’d never talk to me again. Like I might have already blown it… actually…” 

Hunk stoped himself from face-palming. These two were just so dense. Everyone knew that Lance liked Keith, and if anyone payed attention to the little details, they would notice that Keith liked Lance back. He wasn’t as loud about it, but it showed in his body language and the little smiles he saved especially for Lance. Body language would always give you away. 

“Lance, all I’m saying is that when you feel ready, I think you stand a good chance.” Lance peered over at Hunk. “You really think so?” “Mhmm. Just don’t do anything over the top or Keith will get mad. I know that much.” He patted his knees, then stood up with a groan much like that of an old mans. “Oh boy.” He leaned over to crack his back. “I’m going for some breakfast, you coming?”

Lance let a small smile pull at the corner of his mouth. “No roommate of mine is stepping out of here with pajamas still on!” He pointed out. Hunk looked down. “Right. I wonder who kept me from my morning routine.” Lance shrugged innocently. “I wouldn’t know. But I’d hate the guy if I found myself in that situation. It’s a good thing you have me watching your back. You’re welcome by the way.” Hunk was happy to see Lance was feeling better. “I must be the luckiest person alive.” He laughed and went to grab some proper clothes so the two could go down for breakfast. 

 

 

Keith entered his room silently. Shiro had come back from the gym and was just wiping his neck with a towel when Keith came in. “Hey, good morning.” He said without looking up. “Morning” Keith mumbled back. He quickly locked himself in the bathroom and stared at his face in the mirror. It was still red, the tips of his ears even more so. “Damn it Lance!” He thought to himself looking away from his embarrassed reflection. 

That guy was always doing something stupid and unexpected. He always caught Keith off guard and he hated it. He let air hiss through his teeth in an attempt to calm down. It didn’t help, but a shower might. Keith let the water run down his face and he felt a little better. But then an imagine of Lance dancing without a care in the world popped into mind and he felt annoyed again.

“And he has to be a great dancer. What’s next? Is he going to serenade me?” Keith realized that idea didn’t bother him and he slammed his fist against the wall. The force sent bottles of shampoo, conditioner, and body wash tumbling off the ledge. Keith angrily moved to put them back again. There was a knock on the door and Shiro’s muffled voice came through. 

“Hey Keith. Everything okay?” “Yep, just knocked over the shampoo and stuff” he replied, still holding the body wash bottle in his hand. It was blue and this also made Keith think of Lance. “Dude, pull yourself together. Just because blue is his favorite color doesn’t mean you have to think of him!” But he couldn’t deny that he had bought it thinking of Lance. 

He contemplated throwing the bottle out, but then convinced himself he shouldn’t waste the money. He was in self denial. Keith wanted to think of Lance, but at the same time he didn’t want to give himself the opportunity to like the guy. They were so different, he was sure they would just be that couple that was always arguing.

Couple? They would never be a couple. What was he thinking. Lance was loud, flamboyant and haughty. All things that were an immediate shut down for Keith. Lance annoyed him, a lot sometimes. But then again, there were times when he wasn’t doing stupid things. Times when he was just Lance. When he was saying stupid pickup lines to girls and spilling things because he was to expressive when he talked.

Keith found himself smiling as he squeezed some of the blue body wash onto his loofah. He immediately frowned. Nope, it would never work. He wouldn’t let it. He scrubbed vigorously and tried hard to stop letting his mind wander back to Lance. He wouldn’t go to the dance tomorrow. Not if Lance was going to be there, moving his hips and flirting with people. Other people who were not Keith. Why did that bother him so much? 

Wait. He was thinking about Lance again. Good lord this would never end! He banged his head against the wall in exasperation and the bottles toppled to the floor of the shower again. He stooped to pick them up and told himself he needed to stop hitting the wall or there would be a dent by the time he was done.

Shiro sat on the other side of the bathroom door and looked up from his book as he heard things falling to the ground for a second time. Keith must be upset about something for him to keep hitting the wall. Shiro smiled a little. He would bet his life it was Lance, but he wouldn’t ask Keith about it when he stepped out. He knew better, and it was an unspoken rule between the two. He went back to reading his book, shaking his head at how naive the two boys were with their feelings for each other.


	14. Chapter 14

Katie realized very quickly that she had made a big mistake as she and Allura went upstairs for breakfast. Allura giggled as boys that they didn’t know, stopped to say good morning to them. To Katie. She was confused, until it hit her. She had completely neglected to change into her Pidge clothes. Here she was, fresh from her dance lesson with Allura, and walking around in a SKIRT AND MAKEUP! 

Once it dawned on her, she wished with all her heart that she was invisible. “Allura!” she hissed “You let me walk out of the room and all the way up here looking like this!?” She asked in a hurt tone. “Oh darling, I’m sorry. I remembered as we were walking up the stairs and by that point I thought you seemed okay with it. It didn’t occur to me that you hadn’t noticed.” She sounded very apologetic and Katie couldn’t stay upset with her.

It was her own fault as well. “Let’s just hope the boys don’t notice me.” She sighed. “But they already have.” “No, not the strangers, I mean the guys. Lance, Hunk, Keith and Shiro!” She suddenly gasped. “And Lotor!” Her hands went to her face in panic. “Oh my gosh, I’m wearing makeup and a skirt and what if he notices me and he puts it together!?” 

She would have kept going but Allura put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “Katie, you look very different with makeup on remember? Besides, you’re Pidge’s sister, so it’s okay to look similar. And you aren’t wearing your glasses today which are a key accessory for Pidge.” Katie bit her lip. She was just so uncomfortable walking around out here in the open with this outfit. “If it bothers you so much, let’s just go back and you can get dressed into…” “No I can’t. Look.” 

Katie turned her back but nodded in the direction of a group of girls. It was the generals, or rather the four girls that always followed Lotor. They were watching them and talking casually, but Katie and Allura knew what, who, they were talking about. “If we walk back now and they see you with Pidge, it will be suspicious. Besides, it’s probably a good thing to be walk around as Katie every once in a while. _"Even if I hate it…"_ She thought to herself.

With a deep breath she steeled herself and practically marched her way toward the cafeteria. Allura followed, impressed with Katie’s resolve. But as soon as she got to the doors Katie panicked again. “Oh I can’t do this!” Allura took hold of her arm. “Katie” she said in a slightly warning voice. “You can do this! I’ll be right here and we can go sit in the corner so no one finds us okay?” “Mhmm” Katie whimpered. She hunched her shoulders and stared at the ground the whole way over to the food counter. 

She was even too nervous to yell at the slow server today and hastily got what she wanted and beelined for the furthest table from the crowd. Allura was making her way over to their chosen table when Lotor stepped in front of her. “Good morning princess.” His smile was radiant. “Lotor, I asked you not to use that nickname.” “But it has been my pet name for you since we were children.” He said with a slight practiced pout. 

He glanced around. “Where is your body guard?” He asked with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. Allura looked away. “I know you think you are being very charming, using your practiced faces on me, but I already told you I’m not interested in a boyfriend.” 

Lotor ignored her comment. “Where is Pidge?” He asked again. “He isn’t here with me today. He is sitting with his other friends.” “Oh-ho, so you’re alone today?” “I am not.” Allura replied before she could stop herself. She didn’t want to betray Katie when she was feeling so vulnerable. “I’m sitting with… with my…” “Roommate. Katie Holt was it? The ever elusive girl that is too shy to be out in public.” 

Allura tapped her foot impatiently. Of course he would know that Katie was with her today. He stalked them through his generals. “Yes I’m sitting with Katie today, but she is very shy and I promised her we would avoid people. So I would appreciate it if…” But again Lotor interrupted her. “Over there at that lonely corner table? Yes, allow me to escort you.” He said this, but then turned his back to Allura and walked over to the table before she could say anything. 

“No, wait please!” She called after him in panic. Katie saw his nicely shined shoe on the bench next to her before she looked up. But she already knew who it was so she didn’t know why she still looked up. He looked triumphant. But when he saw her face his snarky demeanor seemed to falter. Katie’s eyes went wide and she ducked her head down again.

“Lotor! How could you!” Allura said coming up behind him and standing defensively next to Katie. Lotor took his foot off the bench and whatever sassy comment he had been about to make left him. “I didn’t realize she really was as shy as you said.” He said sounding, was that, apologetic? Katie looked sideways at him through her hair which had fallen forward to cover her face. He actually looked uncertain of his next move. That was new. 

“I’m sorry Katie.” Allura started. “It’s, uhm, okay.” Katie said trying to raise her voice in pitch to sound more girly, but instead it came out as a small whisper. She felt so stupid! Why was she so nervous and anxious. She felt so confident as Pidge and never cared what people thought. Even before “Pidge” she was just fine.

Why was this side of her, the girly side, Katie, so uncomfortable. Was it the makeup, the skirt, the situation? All of it was just wrong right now and she didn’t know how to feel about it all. She hunched over a little bit more and stared at her lap.

Allura shooed Lotor. “What did I tell you!” she said angrily. “You freaked her out and now she probably will never come out to the cafeteria with me again!” Lotor corrected his posture. “If it means anything to you, I am sorry.” He said curtly and then turned to walk away. Allura stared after him, mouth open.

“Katie..?” She sat down next to her friend. “Did you hear that? I didn’t mishear it did I? Lotor just apologized!” Katie nodded. “That’s so unlike him. He usually delicately stomps away.” She managed to look up now and Allura was reminded of what happened. 

“I’m sorry! I told him not to, I didn’t even mean to suggest you were with me but he already knew thanks to his _generals._ ” Katie shrugged. “It’s okay. He left pretty quick. What bothers me more is how timid I was. That wasn’t me and I don’t like it at all.” She looked down at her hands folded in her lap.

“Maybe that’s why I like being Pidge more. I feel more confident and myself and well, nothing bothered me much. But as Katie…” she trailed off. Why did she feel like she was talking about two different people. They were the same, Katie Holt and Pidge Gunderson were the same person.

Allura put an arm around her shoulder in a comforting side hug. “It’s okay Katie. This is almost like experiencing a new side of you. Or maybe not. This is a disguise after all. Before Pidge and Katie became separate people, you were basically Pidge. So this Katie is the fake one really. And that’s okay, because you know the real you.” She smiled encouragingly. 

“Feeling uncomfortable while pretending to be someone you aren’t is a natural response I’d say. But you played it off very well. Being that extra shy Katie that everyone thinks you are.” She let her eyes scan the cafeteria giving Katie a moment to think about what she had said.

“Yeah, you’re right.” “As usual” Allura added with a playful smile. Katie laughed but then continued. “I can’t afford to doubt myself. I DO know who I am even if I have to pretend to be this quiet and shy.” She sat straighter. “And I thought I was pretending when I was Pidge.” She laughed again. “Turns out it was Katie who was a lie.” 

Allura shook her head. “The name Katie is real. I also think Pidge is the real you and in time when this is over, you can combine the two and go back to being you. Goodness this is complicated to explain, but you understand what I’m trying to get at right? Just don’t doubt yourself anymore and remember that when you are being _Katie_ , it’s okay to pretend to be timid.”

Katie smiled a little. _"But, I wasn’t pretending to be nervous. I actually was and I didn’t like it. When this is done, I hope Katie isn’t a side of me that lives on."_ But she kept her thoughts quiet because she didn’t know how to express the fear of pretending so much that she couldn’t remember who she really was. She prayed that wouldn’t happen.


	15. Chapter 15

Katie thought she’d be safe after her encounter with Lotor, but her luck proved to be bad that day. The only thing in her favor was that it wasn’t Lance who found her, but Keith. She was almost surprised that he approached them. She considered him to be a lone wolf who would rather be by himself than socialize. “Katie..?” Keith asked trying to make sure he had her real name correct.

“Yeah” She answered, feeling her face start to get warm with embarrassment. But she refused to act the way she had with Lotor. Plus she figured, out of the group, Keith would be the one to judge her least. He gave her a thoughtful expression, but said nothing about her appearance. “Mind... if I sit here?” Allura shook her head no and Katie shrugged. “Sure.”

He sat down across from them. “Is anyone else here today?” Katie asked, glancing around quickly. She was worried that if Keith had found them, the rest would too. “Ya, they’re all sitting over there in our usual spot.” He lazily threw his hand in the general direction. “Oh, okay…” Katie couldn’t help it, she wanted to know.

“Hey, why… Are you not sitting with them?” “Huh?” Keith looked up and then shrugged. “Because I didn’t feel like it today.” It was apparent that he had other reasons and Katie stopped herself from asking him. She never liked when Matt kept bothering her to tell the truth when she wasn’t ready to or didn’t want to explain herself to him. She could respect that with Keith.

The three ate their breakfast in silence, Allura texting while Katie and Keith stared at their trays. Katie wasn’t sure if she should attempt conversation, but she also just didn’t feel like it. “Oh yeah.” Keith held up his phone. “Shiro says that there will be another quick practice today. Apparently the understudy demands it and we have to comply.” 

Katie grumbled. “That Lotor…” “Hmm? Where!?” They had Allura’s full attention. “At play practice tonight.” Katie said propping her head up with one hand. “I really don’t want to go now.” Keith grunted in agreement. “I’m not going for sure.” “But you don’t have an understudy, so that’s fine?” Keith was frowning at his phone. “Nope. Definitely not going.”

He stood up, breakfast finished, and walked off. “He’s a weird one. I have a hard time understanding him.” Allura commented, watching him wander through the crowd until he disappeared from view. Katie shrugged half heartedly. “I get it. He just likes to be alone and do his own thing. We’re not too different. We just have different temperaments.” “I’d say” Allura added, turning back to the table.

“It appears you feel a little bit better, I’m glad.” “Well it helps when no one else has approached us. Having Keith brooding at our table seemed to have helped too.” She laughed a little. At least she wasn’t the only one who had a deadly aura in the morning. Allura stood up, ready to go. “I’m finished. Shall we return to our room so you can relax?” Katie almost jumped out of her seat. “Yes please, let’s leave.”

As they left the cafeteria, Katie saw the table that the other boys were sitting at. They didn’t seem as conversational as they usually were. And Lance was the worst by far. He looked very tired. Katie hoped he wasn’t worried about Lotor coming to practice. She felt it was her job to make sure her understudy didn’t cause any problems. 

But then she reminded herself that Lance dragged her into his problems and that she didn’t have to be responsible. At least, she didn’t want to be. She knew she would still try to make things go smoothly tonight. And she wasn’t looking forward to it after the argument she had had with Lotor the day before. She crossed her fingers. _“Please just be over quickly.”_

 

Back in the safety of their room, the girls went their own ways. Allura had a class in 15 minutes so she grabbed her things and headed out. “Perfect early student as ever” Katie commented under her breath as Allura waved a quick bye. She was grateful for the silence and the alone time though. God knows she had missed it.

She plopped onto her bed, back in her comfy clothes, and lay there in silence for a good while. Her fingers were itching to get some work done. Her online class wasn’t for another 6 hours and she had plenty of time to herself. She got up and went to her corner of the room which Allura liked to call her “time out corner.”

It was more of a joke since Katie would sit there for long periods of time going through her collection of technology and creating new gadgets and upgrading the ones she already owned. She was a bit of a hoarder, in that she had to have every last piece of technology that fascinated her. It was her favorite spot in the room and the messiest. 

But she did her best thinking here, surrounded by scattered piles of tech pieces. This was her side of the room and she didn’t feel like she needed to clean anything. Then she would have to look for the pieces she wanted instead of them just being where she left them. This was an organized mess, even if Allura didn’t believe her. She ran her hand over her tool box and flicked the lock open. 

She knew what she was going to do today. Her hands seemed to be on autopilot while her brain worked out the formulas and decided on what pieces she would need. Luckily, last week she had been to visit the tech center at school and smuggled several things back with her to her room. It wasn’t like she wouldn’t use them, so therefore, not stealing. Or at least she told herself that. 

As she worked she hummed nothing in particular to herself. Katie took the watch off her wrist and quickly dismantled it, setting the pieces out before her. She was so engrossed in her work that before she new it, she had a few minutes before her online class would start. She lazily reached over and grabbed her laptop off her bed.

Opening it to her classes blackboard, she joined in on the online video. That being out of the way, she continued her work and waited for the teacher to start speaking. The nice thing about online classes was that she wouldn’t have to sit and act as if she was paying attention. Although, honestly, she never did that in the class room anyways. 

It didn’t take long for the lecture to begin, and she kept working on her project while she listened. She had always told Matt that girls were better at multitasking, but that was just her excuse for focusing on her work. This teacher was being nice and would keep a recording of the lectures online for his students. “I can see who is online and watching so don’t think that if you skip you can just come back to watch these. If you pretend to watch and aren’t listening, I’m sure to know on the exam. I’ve been saying this for the past two weeks, this is the last warning. Now then…”

He launched into his lecture for the day and Katie kept working. The class on Thermodynamics of Materials was definitely interesting and soon she found herself working more slowly as she listened and watched some of the formulas shown on screen. She loved learning and was always curious about these things. 

Soon her project lay on the floor, half finished, and she was eagerly taking notes. She was almost disappointed when class was over. She signed the virtual log-in sheet for the class and then logged off her school account. At least she was fairly content. Then she saw her project on the floor and the excitement to finish came back.

Allura arrived somewhere in-between Katie’s lesson, but she knew better than to interrupt her. She left Katie alone and did her own thing, finishing some homework and answering texts. Dinner was coming up and Allura considered asking Katie to go, but then shrugged and went on her own. She would bring something back for her. Besides, it would be nice to fly solo again for a while.

She had been worried about Katie ever since her double life started. But she had to remind herself that she wasn’t Katie’s mom and Katie already mentioned in one of their conversations that she didn’t appreciate people treating her like she couldn’t handle herself. Allura didn’t want to seem overbearing even if she was used to being in charge of the people around her. Katie wasn’t one of her maids. 

_“I could use some of that independent attitude though.”_ Allura thought as she quietly closed the door behind her and headed toward the staircase. She had secretly hoped that by being around Katie, some of that confidence would rub off on her and she would be able to stop being scared of messing up. She wanted to do right by those who looked up or depended on her. She was afraid that, when the time came, she wouldn’t be strong enough and might ruin the reputation that her father worked so hard to maintain.


	16. Chapter 16

Katie held up the drone in triumph. “Alright! Let’s turn you on and see what you can do.” She flicked the small switch to “on” and the little machine whirred to life. It hovered in front of her. “ _Beep_ initial scanning. _Beep_ ” it said in a robotic voice and continued to scan Katies face. She smiled at it as it processed her image.

“Hello. Katie Holt” it finally concluded. “You seem to be working pretty well!” Katie said in confidence. “Although your process time could be better.” The little robot whirred around her room scanning random objects to add to its database. Katie watched it for a little while.

“Hey, come over here… I need a name for you don’t I? Let’s go with Bae Bae. No wait, my dog would be confused! Rover it is then!” Rover beeped in approval. Katie laughed, “Although, my dog might still be confused seeing you zipping around the house.” She continued to finish up minor details. She wanted Rover to be like a flying computer, or rather like Google’s Siri, but fitting to her personal needs. 

She was still adding some coding when Allura came back to the room. “Katie? Sorry to bother you when you are… oh!” She was interrupted by Rover as it zipped over to scan and register her. “Hello, Allura …” it finally said and flew away to finish its exploration of the room. “That’s Rover, my new drone.” 

“Is that what you where working on?” “Yep” “Fascinating, but before I forget, Lance wanted me to tell you, you’re late for practice! He’s been texting you, but you didn’t answer.” Katie fished her phone out of her backpack and sure enough she had a few missed calls and several texts all from Lance and two from Matt. “Whoops”

She looked at the time. It was 7:24! “Oh no! Did I miss dinner too?” Katies stomach grumbled as if to agree about the lack of food. “The cafeteria is still open for a little bit, but practice! And in any case, you have a wonderful roommate who thinks about you.” With the last comment she took some takeout boxes out of her backpack. 

“I packaged them up so they’d stay warm. But here you go. I hope I picked the stuff you like.” Katie almost fell over herself trying to get up. “Allura, you really are there best! Thank you so much. I’d eat anything I’m so hungry right now.” Allura smiled but held the boxed food away for a moment. “You still have to get to practice! Get going or Lance will kill us both. Lotor is coming today and I get the feeling Lance doesn’t want to handle him alone. Or rather he said he could use some of Pidge’s “Kick-a-pow” power. Whatever that means.” 

Katie deflated a little. “Oh fine…” She kicked some of her tools into their corner and grabbed her shoes and backpack. She was about to ask where her glasses were, but realized she had them on her nose already. She must have put them on sometime during her work on Rover. Regardless, Pidge was ready to go.

Allura put the food into Pidge’s backpack and zipped it up while Pidge ran a hand through her messy hair. “Eh, that’ll do. I really don’t need to make much effort for Pidge.” Allura laughed. “I think you at least cared a little bit before, but now that you are trying to look more boyish you don’t try.” Pidge shrugged.

She took her backpack from Allura and crept down the hallway, hoping to avoid contact with people. But to her dismay, two girls rounded a corner and Pidge made a wild dash for the stairs. She caught the passing conversation and she ducked and waited. “Was that a boy just now?” “What! Where? Was he cute?” “Oh stop it! We could all get in big trouble!”

The laughing faded and Pidge continued up the stairs slowly. Maybe she should start packing her Pidge clothes in her backpack and change when she got to the second floor. Then she wouldn’t have to worry about being spotted coming up or going down to the girls floor. As she was taking the last step up, an arm came out of nowhere and dragged her away from the staircase. “Hey..!”

“If you’re caught like that coming upstairs from the girls floor, you’d spoil everything!” “Matt!” Her brother was frowning at her. “Seriously Ka… Pidge. Be more careful.” “Okay, geez, sorry. I’ll change into Pidge’s outfit once I get to the second floor, okay?” _“Funny how that works since I was just thinking about it” she thought to herself._

Matt sighed. “That would be a good idea. In fact I know of a janitors closet that is always open and in the back of a hallway, so you could easily go there from now on.” Pidge was a bit surprised. “Still looking out for me as ever huh?” “Of course I am!” He smiled slightly to show he was over being upset with her. “What are big brothers for?” 

Pidge smiled softly in return, but she still felt annoyed of her brothers over protectiveness. She kept her comments to herself though as the two made their way to the theater. “Is Lotor there yet?” Matt clicked his tongue in agitation. “Yes. That’s why I was waiting for you to come upstairs. He is being a real pain right now. Usually I don’t give two cents about the guy, but he was starting to get on my nerve.”

Pidge bit her lip. _“Great” _she thought as they opened the doors leading to the stage. Sure enough there was Lotor standing tall on the stage, posing dramatically, script in hand. His voice echoed through the large room. “Bet you wish you had me as the lead role now, don’t you?” He was looking at Lance who was sitting on a stool.__

____

____

As Pidge and Matt climbed up on stage, Lance looked up with relief. “Where have you been Pidge?” “I’m sorry Lance, I was building this.” She unzipped her backpack and Rover flew out, immediately going to scan the others sitting on stage. “Hello. Takashi Shirogane.” The little robot paused and corrected itself. “Shiro.” Then flew off to introduce itself to Hunk who was fascinated. 

“Pidge! This is so cool, how did you get it to have scanning and recognition capabilities! Wait don’t tell me, did you use…” “Hunk” Lance interrupted his roommates nerding out. “You and Pidge can discuss it later, we have to practice now.” “Oh, oh right. Sorry about that. But Pidge we definitely have to talk about this later!” Pidge smiled, happy to find someone who appreciated her technology. “For sure!”

Lance stood up with a big sigh and cleared his throat. “Alright guys, let’s run through the whole script from the top, with our understudy’s. We have the extras with us today so I’d like them to be able to say their parts and such.” He motioned to the four strangers sitting in their own circle. Pidge recognized the boys as her classmates from her Thursday Extrasolar Planets class, as Pidge. They had been the ones who sat in the front and where joking and laughing before class started. 

They didn’t seem to recognize her though. Lance continued, “This is Kolivan, Trace, Ulaz, and Antok. They’ve agreed to be a part of the theater group, which is unusual, but I’m grateful so what the heck.” Lance shrugged half heartedly. Lotor’s outburst stopped Lance for a moment. “Oh, get away you creepy thing!” Rover had been scanning Lotor and he was waving his hands at the robot.

“Pidge control your awful robot!” He demanded. “I don’t like it scanning me. What are you even going to use it for anyways? Are you stalking me?” Pidge snorted. “I don’t need to do that.” She said pressing a button on her watch. With a _beep_ Rover returned to her side and she turned the robot off and put it back into her backpack.

Lance cleared his throat again. “Let’s just jump into this okay? I don’t feel like explaining the obvious.” Pidge noticed how deflated Lance still looked. She thought he would be better by now after seeing him at breakfast. But he just seemed more upset. She looked around and noticed that Keith really hadn’t showed up. She wondered if that was what bothered Lance. But he seemed too upset for it to be simply that they didn’t have their full cast for practice. 

She didn’t have time to worry about that because Lotor put an unwelcomed arm over her shoulders. “Well, since we are script buddies…” He started, but Pidge shrugged his arm off. “It’s all you today. You need the practice, I’ve already been studying my script.” She said walking herself to the other side of the stage and away from Lotor. Lotor’s eye twitched, but he composed himself quick as ever. 

“You think you’re better than me don’t you?” Pidge made it a point to not give him her attention. Instead she read her own script for the thousandth time acting as if she was studying very hard. Lotor grumbled something under his breath, but then Lance started reading the narrators lines and everyone had to jump in.

They got through half the script when Lotor stopped everything. “Wait! What is this!? YOU’RE the princess!?” He said accusingly pointing at Lance. Lance closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Oh, don’t act surprised, I told you that first thing.” “No, but you were joking! You just wanted to make sure I didn’t want to be in your play.” Lance threw his arms up in an “so what” manner. “You’re in it now, and I AM the princess, so deal with it or leave.”

Lotor glanced over at Pidge and set his jaw tight. “No way. I’m doing this.” “Great, let’s continue then shall we?” And so they did, until they got to the part where the prince kisses the princess awake. Lotor made it a point to fake gag. “You’ve got to be kidding! I bet you put this in here and hoped that Keith would be the prince didn’t you?” 

Lotor had crossed a line and Lance finally snapped. “You know what..?” He said standing up. “Laaaaaance” Hunk warned, standing up next to his friend. Shiro was also on his feet ready to pull them apart if they started fighting. Lance held up a hand to Hunk and turned his angry eyes toward Lotor. “You don’t get to be a prick all the time!” Lotor folded his arms over his chest and smirked. “Oh don’t I?”

Pidge was impressed with how much Lance was controlling himself. Usually he would have just jumped into a fight. Maybe that’s what made this so scary. She was holding her breath along with the rest of the room. Lance put a hand to his forehead and pinched the bridge of his nose as if to stop his anger from exploding.

“I put my very soul into writing this script, and I didn’t have anyone in mind for the parts okay? No one wanted the Princess, so I took it, and then no one wanted the Prince, so Pidge got it. And that’s JUST how I like it. You don’t get to come in here and ruin everyone’s hard work just because you’re a spoiled kid and didn’t get the toy you wanted for Christmas!”

Lance took a shaky breath. “I don’t know how it works in Lotor’s magical wonderland of just him and the world bowing down to his every whim. But this here, is the real world. And in MY world, this play, I get to set the rules.” He took a threatening step in Lotor’s direction. “So stop picking out every little detail you don’t like! This is how it is, final, you can still walk away and no one would be worse off for it!”

Lotor looked angry and rather surprised at how Lance handled himself. Everyone had been expecting him to yell, but he hadn’t. Lotor couldn’t be seen as second best to the likes of someone like Lance. He cleared his throat and took a calming breath. “As much as I hate you, Pidge, and this damn play…” He paused for effect. “I will not be known as someone who steps down from a challenge!” He also took a step toward Lance.

“I will play by your rules while I am here, but don’t go thinking I do it out of respect for you. In fact it is only to show that I can be a gentleman of my word. I’ll let you have your little kingdom here. God knows I rule the rest of it, so this might actually be amusing.” He smiled unpleasantly and sat back down on his chair. 

The four boys from Pidge’s class exchanged glances with each other while everyone else let out silent sighs of relief and tried to act as if the tense atmosphere wasn’t still lingering in the air. Lance was still seething, but he also took his seat and shook out the script. “Let’s just finished this damned session…” He grumbled. The rest of practice thankfully went by rather smoothly compared to what it could have been.


	17. Chapter 17

It was rather late by the time they finished their play practice. Everyone went their own way rather awkwardly after that. Lance still seemed so exhausted that Hunk had to lead him away. “Uhm, we’ll have to talk about Rover some other time” He said apologetically to Pidge as she watched the roommates leave. “Naw, its okay.” She felt rather worried for Lance. He hadn’t been himself all day from what she heard from the others. 

Shiro put an arm behind his neck. “That, could have been a lot worse. But Lance surprised us all I think. Looks like the kid can act like an adult.” He smiled. “I hope he feels better.” The group of four understudy’s pulled Shiro aside to talk with him, asking about Keith missing from practice.

Pidge didn’t have time to snoop in on their conversation because Lotor made it a point to walk angrily in front of her as he left the theater room. She stuck her tongue out behind his back. _“What an idiot”_ she thought. Matt poked her from behind. “Hey, thought I should mention, it’s almost 11:00pm” Pidge’s jaw dropped. She wouldn’t be able to go back to her dorm with Allura! Trust this practice to drag way past a decent time. 

“No worries!” Coran insisted. “You are technically rooming in our dorm, we do have that extra bed.” Matt nodded in agreement. “We somewhat planned for this to maybe happen.” Pidge shrugged, “Yeah, that’s true. Oh well. It’s not that big of a problem, tomorrow is Saturday anyways.” “Oh wait, do you intend to sleep in?” Matt laughed. “Coran and I are both early risers.”

Pidge glared at her brother. “Ugh, of course you both have to be. Can’t you just wait till 8 at least?” Matt rolled his eyes. “Yeah sure, okay. Just this once.” “Yay!” Pidge punched the air with her fists in celebration. 

The three of them said their goodbyes to the others and headed to their dorm. “13 is an unlucky number” Pidge pointed out as they found the room with “13B” on the door. “13 happens to be my favorite number. I thought you of all people would appreciate some rebellion against common thought.” Pidge laughed as they entered the room. “I guess I do.”

She hadn’t been prepared to spend the night in a room that wasn’t her own, so she didn’t have anything she needed with her. She considered sending Rover to go to her room to get stuff, but Allura would be asleep by now and her robot wasn’t designed to open door. Maybe she would have to upgrade that. She checked her phone and sure enough there was a message from Allura saying goodnight and hoping she was fine. 

Pidge sent a quick reply telling her she was staying with Matt and Coran since the elevators and stairways were now locked. Why did they have to be dumb and lock them down after 10:30pm? _“Because people like me would go sneaking back and forth…”_ she said to herself. “Katie?” Matt had been talking to her and she hadn’t heard a thing. “Sorry. Pidge. We’re on the boys floor. Gotta keep our cover.”

Pidge shook her head “No, well yes. But I wasn’t even listening, what were you saying.” Matt gave her a look, but continued. “I said I put sheets on your bed and you can use the extra pair of pj’s I have. If you’re still okay with doing that. I also think…” He walked into the bathroom and opened the cabinet under the sink. His voice was muffled as he continued. 

“Yeah, I have an extra toothbrush too.” He popped back out and handed it to his sister. “Wow, its almost like I was waiting for you to spend the night.” He laughed jokingly. “I don’t have nightmares anymore Matt. So I wouldn’t need to come bother you.” “It never bothered me. It was cute.” “Don’t say that!” Pidge said smacking him with the toothbrush and nodding her head towards Coran.

Matt looked over at his roommate, but Coran was already in bed snoring away. “Wow, he’s actually sleeping?” Pidge asked, tempted to poke him. “Oh yeah. Coran can fall asleep anywhere. He works pretty hard I’d say.” “Huh, well I’m going to get my, well your, pajamas on.” Pidge claimed the bathroom to go get dressed, and Matt quickly changed in the other room. 

Pidge was staring at the mirror, toothbrush in mouth when Matt knocked on the door. “Can I come in to brush my teeth?” “Hmm? Oh yah.” Pidge responded spitting toothpaste as she tried speaking. Whoops. She opened the door to let her brother in. He smirked when he saw her, toothpaste dribbling down her chin. 

“Oh my gosh, clean you’re face. You’re as messy as ever!” He laughed as he put toothpaste onto his toothbrush. Pidge used one of her hands to indicate Matts mouth and opened and closed her hand with a sassy expression. She spat her toothpaste out and washed her face. “Clean your face, your soooo messy.” She said in a whiny tone.

Matt tried not to laugh as he was now brushing his teeth, but he spluttered and toothpaste fell onto his shirt. “Hmmm!” He made an expression that clearly said, “Look what you made me do!” Pidge laughed. “Haha! That’s what you get. Clean your shirt Matt, you’re as messy as ever!” Matt pushed his little sister with his elbow as he spat into the sink. 

“This was your fault. Stop being stupid so I don’t have to laugh at you.” Pidge raised an eyebrow, “Stop being so bossy.” She retorted. “Fine, fine. Fair enough.” Done with their tooth brushing, the two headed back out to get to bed. “Hey” Matt whispered from his bed after the lights were out. “What?” Pidge asked, pulling her bed sheet higher over her nose.

“What…” He started and then trailed off. “Happened to us?” Pidge asked, finishing her brother questions. “Yeah” he sighed. “We used to be so close, when did we drift apart?”Pidge shrugged in her bed. “I don’t really know.” She admitted. “Was it something I did?”

Pidge figure if she was finally going to get this off her chest, now was a good time. “Not really. Well, yes? Oh I don’t know. But at some point I stopped being equal to you.” “How do you mean?” Matt asked propping his head up with his pillow. “We used to have the same, respect? I’m not sure how to say it, but at some point you started treating me like a little kid, like mom and dad always do. Just because I’m the baby of the family doesn’t mean I can’t handle myself or pick myself up when I fall.”

Matt took a breath but didn’t say anything so Pidge continued. “I get it that you guys are worried for me and my bad habits of being sloppy and distracted and lost in my own technology world. But I made it into this college fair and square just like you. I don’t want to follow your shadow anymore, or be cast in it. I want to stand next to you. I think I already do, but you all keep acting like I’m a poor little bird that needs help. I’m not. I can fly!”

Matt sighed softly. “I’m sorry Pigeon.” He said, using his little nickname for her. “I don’t think that you’re below me, far from it, I’m impressed with your skills to surpass me. I’ve always thought that I was the one who had to keep up with you. I think you’re the smartest in the family. I didn’t even realize that my behavior towards you was condescending. I was just trying to be a good older brother, but it’s kinda hard when I feel like it was you always keeping an eye out for me.”

“We’ve always been watching each other’s back.” Pidge corrected. “And I think you’re pretty amazingly smart too. You’re almost done with school already and have job offers at dads work. That’s really cool!” “Oh but you know you already have a place at dads job, so we aren’t very different.” “I know, so can we stop pretending to be?” Matt was quiet for a bit.

“What exactly do I need to change?” “Give me a little bit of space? No, that’s not it. Don’t be so protective. No that’s not quite right either. I don’t know Matt. You could try trusting me? When I say I’ve got something under control, don’t worry so much and know that I do.” “I do trust you, but I don’t see anything wrong with being worried.” “You don’t have to worry about me, but you can if that’s how you do your older brother thing. I just… don’t want to be treated like a little kid anymore.” “Okay…”

The two siblings lay in bed quietly thinking about the conversation they just had and the requests they shared. “Do you really think I’m the smartest one?” Pidge asked softly. “Yeah I really do.” Matt answered. “Which is saying something because I’m practically a genius.” He teased. Pidge laughed a little at that. “Yeah, you pretty much are.”

“Katie. I’ll try to stop babying you and to treat you equally again. In return, can you promise me to stop being so reckless?” Katie smiled. “Yeah, I can do that. Why do you think I made Bae Bae?” Matt laughed. “Hopefully not just to bother Lotor.” “Although that’s a nice feature, no.” She giggled.

“I promise.” She said. “I promise too.” Matt replied. The two smiled up at the ceiling from their beds. It was nice to finally have a little heart to heart after so long. “Well goodnight.” Matt said as he turned over to sleep. “Goodnight” Pidge answered as she closed her eyes.


	18. Chapter 18

Pidge woke up to the smell of breakfast. She rubbed her eyes in confusion. “Morning Pigeon!” Matt said from his desk, when he noticed her sitting up in bed. “What time is it?” “7:30” “You’re kidding, I have half an hour to sleep!” “You could, or you could eat breakfast before it gets cold.” Pidge peeked over her bed sheet.

“You brought me food?” “Yep. Coran told me that Allura told him that you forget to eat sometimes because you’re too lazy or too busy. And since I wanted to finish up some studying, I brought us back breakfast.” Pidge gave her brother a suspicious look. “You’re just trying to make me a morning person.”

Matt laughed. “I know better than that. But I _am_ trying to make you a happy person in the morning. Grumpy Katie isn’t cute.” “Who cares?” She grumbled rolling out of bed. She let her body hit the floor, dragging the covers down with her. Matt leaned his chair back to peer at her. “Hmm, guess some things never change.” “Nope…” 

Matt shrugged and went back to reading and writing notes. Eventually Pidge sat up, blankets pulled tightly around her, and scooted across the floor to sit next to Matt. He patted her head, book still in the other hand. “What are you reading? It’s Saturday…” “It’s for my Micro Physics class. I like getting things done early so I can be lazy later.” “Work hard to be lazy. I respect that.”

She reached up to grab a piece of toast off the cafeteria tray. “The rest is yours, so you can take the plate.” “Cool” Pidge didn’t wait for a second invitation and shoved food into her mouth. “Where did Coran go?” She managed through a mouthful of food. “Doing his rounds of the rooms. He was asked to help set up for the dance too. I’m going to go help him, want to come if you don’t have any other plans today?”

Pidge tapped her lips with her fork. “I mean… I’d rather not, but I really have no excuse.” “You should come with me as Katie.” “As Katie!?” Pidge shifted uncomfortably on the floor. She remembered how she had acted yesterday as Katie. She didn’t want to feel like that again. Maybe if she was with Matt, she could act like her old self. Like the real Katie before Pidge and Katie became separate people. 

“Well, okay. I do want to be seen out in public more as Katie.” “I also think it’d be a good idea. Besides, you never had a problem walking around before.” Matt added. “That’s just it though. Ever since I split Katie and Pidge, Katie has had to become more girly and it’s really… uncomfortable to me.” Matt put his book down.

“I knew I had a bad feeling about this whole thing.” “Oh don’t start that now. What’s done is done and I have to go through with it. I’ll find a way of kicking Pidge out of school once the play is over with…” “But what will happen if everyone is used to Katie being so girly and shy, and then when Pidge is gone, you go back to being you. It’ll seem more like Katie got kicked out of school and Pidge stayed.” Pidge hadn’t thought of that.

“Okay. That would be a problem.” “Yeah it would. So why don’t you try to make Katie more like the real Katie?” “Wouldn’t that… ruin the point of Pidge? Pidge is more like the real me. Katie has become the fake one. Oh my gosh, Allura and I discussed this and it was just as confusing!” Pidge threw her arms up in annoyance. “Hey, it’s fine. Trying to think about yourself as separate people is weird. But I’m sure you’ll find a way of compensating both of your personalities.”

“But I don’t want _this_ Katie to be a part of me!” There, she had said it. It was out. She hated the Katie she was pretending to be. It brought out all her insecurities. Maybe that’s what really scared her. Being Pidge somehow helped her avoid all the things she didn’t like about herself. “Maybe… Maybe I’ve always run away from myself. You know. I think I’ve always been pretending.” Matt gave her a concerned look and turned to face her properly.

“I think I liked Pidge so much when we were little that I just became Pidge rather than discovering myself. In our games, Pidge always stopped the villain and no matter what, she was the coolest and most confident super hero I knew.” Pidge put her hands on her cheeks. They were burning hot. Was she embarrassed to realize this or was it just really hard to admit? Most likely both. Matt cleared his throat.

“Katie, I don’t think there is anything wrong with liking Pidge so much. I mean she is your made up superhero, so she basically IS you. You aren’t pretending to be someone you’re not.” “But I feel like I’ve cheated myself somehow!” “There is nothing wrong with wanting to be like someone you look up to! As kids, we all do that! Remember I wanted to be just like dad? It’s not like wanting to be like dad has made me not myself. It helped me become who I am. I think Pidge has done the same for you. She hasn’t cheated you out of being Katie, by aspiring to be like her, you’ve found yourself.” 

Katie pulled the blankets back around her. The two siblings were quiet for a while. “I’ve never been confused about myself before.” “I know. I’ve never seen you distrust yourself.” “Do you think it’s because I’m trying out a new side of me and I don’t like it? That’s what Allura said anyways.” “That’s a good guess, but only you would know.” “I like the me I was before this mess. Even if I was more like Pidge, that was me. Not this girly Katie.” 

“It all kinda circles around to Katie being Pidge and Pidge being Katie. You are you. But why does Katie have to be so girly and shy if it makes you uncomfortable” “If I make Katie more like me, Pidge would be found out because it would be like we’re all the same person. Which I am. All of them are me. Except maybe girly Katie.” “Well okay then, you just need to find a pretend Katie that doesn’t make you so upset. Find a compromise. You can still be girly without putting yourself way out there.” 

“True…” “Hanging out with me today before the dance can be your test run.” Matt smiled comfortingly. “Let’s find a Katie that is different from Pidge, but still you. Really I think you’re only missing the confidence you’ve always had.” Katie nodded. “I need to stop running from myself.” “That’s the spirit!” Matt encouraged. 

“So you get going back to your room and get your Katie on. Haha as silly as that sounds.” Katie laughed a little at that. “Alright. Thanks a lot Matt. I’m actually really glad that I got stuck here last night. We needed that talk.” Matt smiled back at her. “I agree. Sometimes I think there is no such thing as coincidence.” “Thanks for breakfast too! I’m going to go back to my room, I’m sure Allura is wondering where I am. Meet you in the ballroom?” “Sure thing! I’ll be there in an hour.” “Okay, see yeah.” “Hey… love ya.” Matt added somewhat awkwardly. Katie smirked. “I guess I love you too.”


	19. Chapter 19

Once Katie stepped out of her brothers room she realized that she didn’t have a change of clothes. She would have to sneak back downstairs to her room as Pidge. She frowned as she pulled her backpack straps onto her shoulders. Rover shifted inside, reminding Pidge of its existence. She pulled the little robot out and turned it on.

“Seek” she commanded, and Rover zipped off ahead of her. She turned the little screen of her watch on and a live stream of what Rover saw with its camera flitted into view. She would be able to avoid people now that she knew who was where. 

Luckily she was able to get downstairs without any prying eyes. Although Rover had gotten a lot of weird or curious looks. She threw herself into her room and quickly closed the door. Allura looked up in surprise from her position on her bed. “Oh wow! Hello Katie! Glad to see it you made it back alright.” 

Katie let out a sigh. “You know, I think there are more people out today than normal. Does anyone sleep in on Saturdays!?” “I mean if you didn’t, maybe no one else did?” Katie threw her backpack onto her bed and turned Rover off. “Did your little friend help you escape suspicion?” Allura asked.

“Kinda. I was able to avoid the people I didn’t want to run into, but a robot flying around is kind of suspicious on its own. It got a lot of looks.” She took her sweater off as she spoke. “Allura, I want to go help Matt set up for tonights dance, as Katie. But do you think we can find an outfit that is still girly, but not out of my comfort zone? I know the idea was to be super girly and extra shy when being Katie, but Matt and I were talking and what happens when Pidge stops existing?”

“You’d go back to being Ka… oh. I see.” Allura scratched her head with the pen she was holding. She put her notebook down and walked over to her closet. “We can avoid the skirts from now on.” “And maybe not so much makeup?” Allura looked disappointed but agreed. “Not as much makeup.” Together they settled on a nice pair of jeans and a pink sweater. 

“Pidge likes to wear baggy outfits and comfy clothing, but I say that Katie can do the same if we find softer colors and better fitted clothing.” She said handing the pink sweater over to Katie who took it with a pleased expression. “This is much better than yesterday’s outfit.” She got dressed and brushed her hair out. Allura suggested she wear a hairband to keep her hair out of her face.

“I find when my hair is out of my face, I feel more confident, but still girly. Although, if you wanted to seem shy, you could leave your hair down so that it falls into your face?” Katie shook her head. “I want to find a Katie that fits me. I’m not shy so much as simply antisocial.” Allura smiled. “I love this new idea. It suits you much better. Look at you getting in touch with your girly side your way.” She frowned a little.

“I suppose I pushed you to do something that wasn’t very you. I’m sorry.” Katie shrugged. “I didn’t know better before. I had to try what I didn’t like to find what I did.” Allura nodded and put a hand to her chest with a little sigh. “I’m glad you don’t hold it against me.” “Of course I don’t. But if you could still help me out with the makeup?”

Allura was more than pleased to help. “Let’s go with a more natural look. Some brown eyeshadow and mascara.” Katie nodded. “You know what you’re talking about.” She laughed. They even added some pink tinted chapstick. Katie was very happy with this look. “I feel SO much better now. Matt was right. I can be girly, but not to the extent of being uncomfortable. I’d say I’m even getting used to makeup.” “Really?” Allura put her hands together. “But not too comfortable.” Katie added quickly. “Oh, I see.”

After getting ready, Katie spent the rest of her time before meeting Matt to tell Allura about yesterday’s play practice. “That easily could have been disastrous! How rude of Lotor to say such a thing like that to Lance. Everyone knows how sensitive he is about it.” “We do? He is?” Allura gave Katie a surprised look. “Darling, is it not obvious to you?” “Well if you’re talking about them liking each other, I picked up on that rather quickly. But why is Lance sensitive about the topic of Keith?”

“Well Shiro told me that they must have gotten into a fight yesterday because they have been avoiding each other since then and Lance has been in the most depressed mood.” “Yeah I noticed… Wait you’re talking with Shiro now?” She laughed. “When did this happen?” “Uhm, after we met at the cafeteria that one time? But that doesn’t matter.” She waved her hand dismissively. 

“Lotor knows for a fact that Lance likes Keith ever since he did that awful prank on Keith in their class. Lance defended him viciously.” “The one where he made it known that Keith was gay? Seriously a jerk move…” “Yeah, and Shiro said that Keith has been embarrassed about it ever since.” “Those two need to kiss and make up already.” “Katie!” Allura laughed.

“What, it’s true. It seems obvious to everyone close to them that they like each other. How are they so oblivious?” “I think they’re forcing themselves to be. But in all honesty, it’s not my business.” Katie squinted her eyes. “Hmm, it shouldn’t be mine either, but I’ve never been one to let the obvious go unsaid.” “Katieeee…” Allura said in a warning tone. “Don’t get involved. It’s apparently very complicated.” “Okay, I’ll try not to.” “Good.”

Katie checked her watch. “I’m going to meet Matt to help set up.” Allura got up too. “Since I’m in the dance class, I was asked to come help. I was going to conveniently forget, but if you’re going, I’ll accompany you.” “Cool, I don’t mind more support. I’m still somewhat nervous.” “Oh, you’ll be just fine! You look more confident already.” “I do feel more confident.” Katie admitted. “See, it’ll be fine.”

The two girls headed out of their room and upstairs to the second floor. Katie decided she shouldn’t bring Rover since Lotor had seen Pidge with it. Then again, she didn’t need to avoid anyone in particular when she was being Katie so she wouldn’t have any need of Rover. They located the large ballroom where many students were already gathered together.

Matt waved them over to where he and Coran where setting up streamers. “Hey! You look great, and confident.” He said nodded at his sister. Katie tucked a lose strand of her hair back behind the hairband. “This feels a lot better than yesterday.” She admitted. “I’m glad you were able to find a compromise. Woah, could you grab that for me?”

He dropped the streamer he had been trying to tape to the wall. Katie picked it up and handed it back to him. “Thanks” he secured it in place and then got off the chair he had been standing on. “What can I help with?” Katie asked, picking up another roll of streamers. “We’ve got plenty of these to put up, so you can help em with them.” “Okay.”

The two siblings continued putting streamers up while Coran and Allura took care of the other side of the room. Katie was just handing the last roll up to Matt when an unexpected voice called out from behind her. “I thought you were too shy to be out of your room and yet here you are” Katie froze in place. What was HE doing here?


	20. Chapter 20

Without turning to face Lotor she replied “I don’t always lock myself in my room. And I missed the part where anything I do is part of your business.” “You tell him.” Matt said under his breath as he stepped down from the chair. She didn’t turn to face Lotor, but she picture he was taken aback by her comment by the sharp intake of breath she heard. He cleared his throat awkwardly.

“I meant to say it’s nice to see you.” Now it was Katies turn to be confused by his comment. She looked over her shoulder to see his face. Was he flirting with her!? “What?” “You don’t get out much, so it’s nice to see you when you do.” He repeated. “Okay..?” Katie didn’t know how to react and she suddenly felt very awkward so she just walked away to join Allura and Coran. Matt gave Lotor a glance before he left to follow his sister.

“Hey, Katie. What exactly happened last time you two met?” Matt asked as he caught up to her. “Nothing really. He ended up apologizing and walking away.” Matt whistled, “I think you broke Lotor!” Katie frowned. “What do you mean by that?” Matt just gave her a big smile. “My little sister. Just took on the biggest guy around and made him apologize.” He laughed. “That sounds about right.” 

Katie couldn’t help smiling back. “I didn’t do anything.” “Must’ve done something!” The two of them reached Allura who was holding the ladder for Coran so he could get down. “That’s the last of em” Coran said wiping his forehead. Allura turned to look around at the streamers they had put up. 

“Oh no, when did Lotor get here?” She asked, annoyed. Matt put an arm around Katies shoulders. “Don’t worry about it Allura. Katie has it all under control.” “Katie?” “I do?” The two girls said at the same time. Matt beamed. “She one upped him just a moment ago. I think he’s too embarrassed to come over here.” “Hmm, I wonder how long that will last. If anything Lotor likes the challenge.” Allura commented. 

The four friends watched as Lotor commanded his generals around, having the girls move heavy boxes while he stood there. He noticed Katie watching and made an attempt to relieve one of the girls from her burden, but she shook her head. Instead he scrambled to pick one up himself and bring it to the stage. Allura raised an eyebrow. “Katie..? How exactly did you one-up him?” Matt laughed. “See, I told you. She has a spell on him.”

Katie pushed Matt “Okay, enough about that. I haven’t done anything, he is just being weird today!“ Although Katie was feeling rather proud of herself. Not only had she been able to avoid feeling self-conscious so far, she even voiced her opinion to Lotor without getting flustered. That was a big improvement from last time. Maybe it was because of her more comfortable outfit, or that she had her friends in close proximity, or maybe Matt, now that they had had their talk. Whatever it was, Katie was proud and grateful. 

They spent the next hour finishing the set up for the dance. The stage was assembled, and the lighting was being tested when Lotor approached Katie again. This time she was standing alone, struggling to hold the pole of a light fixture in place as she waited for Matt to come back with tools to secure it.

Katie could see him making his way over, but for the life of her she couldn’t get Allura’s attention. Allura was talking with Shiro. Katie didn’t know when he had arrived, but she was annoyed that he was distracting Allura at that very moment. She had no choice but to face Lotor alone. 

Lotor didn’t sneak up on her as he had done the last few times, instead he addressed her directly from the front. He had a pleasant expression, but that didn’t help Katie from feeling butterfly’s start in her stomach. _“I wont be nervous! I can do this.”_ “Can I help you with that?” He asked. She clenched the pole tighter. “No? Well, I can’t have you struggling to hold it alone.”

He reached out to grab it but Katie shook her head vigorously. “I don’t want your help!” She blurted out. “I mean… Matt is coming back in a bit.” She stared at the pole in her hands. She didn’t like the guy, but she hadn’t meant to be rude. “I see…” Lotor commented quietly.

Lotor stood there for a moment before speaking. “You know, I already apologized for scaring you the first time we met, and I didn’t mean to be rude earlier today. Have I done something wrong or do you simply dislike me from what you’ve heard from your friends?”

Katie ‘s grip on the pole tightened. What was he asking her that for? Even if she had only heard the stories from everyone in the school, that would be enough to dislike and avoid him. But she knew first hand what a jerk he was. Of course Lotor had no idea that she was Pidge and in reality the two were now enemies and had already clashed several times. She cleared her throat, picking her words carefully.

“Even if I hadn’t heard from everyone about the things you’ve done, why would I talk to you?” She wanted Matt to hurry up already. “I… I don’t have many friends. And I’m not really looking to make new ones.” _“Especially with you”_ she thought. “We don’t have to be friends right away.” Lotor’s comment threw her off guard and she looked at him. What did he mean by that. Did he expect her to like him?

“I’m not like all the other girls.” She said becoming angry. “I know you’re not.” “What do you know?” Katie forgot about being shy. “I’ve met you… once. And you already think you know me?” “Well, no, but I’d like to get to know you.” It was such a sincere comment that Katie forgot what to say next. “Let’s just start over. I’ll assume nothing about you, if you can give me that chance also.” “I’m sorry, but I can’t do that. It’s hard to forget someone who harasses your brother.” 

“You mean Pidge, don’t you.”Lotor leaned back and sighed. “I expect as much. Yes we do have a slight misunderstanding at the moment. But it’s not like I am the only one causing problems or starting the fights. Besides, a little competition between us boys is healthy, or so I’ve heard.” _“A little competition my ass…” Katie thought._

Lotor turned away from her abruptly. “I can tell you’re not interested at the moment.” With that he made his way back to the four generals. Katie watched him leave. She felt that his sudden retreat was uncharacteristic and also wondered why she felt bad. _“That must be one of his tricks! Making himself the victim.”_ She glared at him and the pole in her hands wobbled and slipped.


	21. Chapter 21

“Look out!” The light fell off, not yet being secured properly. It hit Lotor directly on the head and for extra measure the pole followed. There was a resounded gasp in the room as everyone froze for that moment. As soon as the shock wore off, people ran to help. Katie stood with her mouth open. “It… that was an accident.” 

Her legs were rooted to the spot and all she could do was watch as the others helped Lotor to his feet. His generals pushed the others away and supported him as he stumbled forward. Katie wanted to ask if he was alright, but the death glares sent her way kept her frozen in place. “I didn’t do it on purpose.” She repeated.

Matt finally returned from the workroom, tools in hand. He took one look at the situation and dropped the tools, running to where Katie was. “Hey! Are you okay?” He asked worriedly taking her by the shoulders and checking for any bruises or cuts. “Matt, I’m fine!” She said, snapping out of her shock. “The pole fell out of my hands and the whole fixture fell on Lotor.”

Matt looked very worried but to Katie’s relief he kept his comments to himself. He took the pole and the light fixture from the other students who held them, unsure of what to do. They spoke a little before Matt returned. Allura and Shiro quickly made their way over to the siblings. “The girls are going to take Lotor to the doctors office. One of the students here is a nursing major and said he will have a concussion for sure but other than that, he’s fine.” Matt said.

“A concussion!?” Katie felt sick. “I’m going to be kicked out for school for sure…” It was apparent that Matt had been thinking the same thing. “It’ll be fine.” He said rubbing her back. “It was an accident after all.” “You know that won’t matter…” Already the other students where giving her worried or pitying glances. “She will be out of the school by the end of the day for sure.” Someone said with a sigh. “Poor thing.” 

Matt glared at the guy who said that. “Here, you sit down and I’ll finish this up.” Allura took Katie’s hands. “Darling, are you hurt?” “No Allura, I’m fine. It’s Lotor who got hurt and now for sure I’ll be…” “It can’t be that simple to just excuse a student.” Allura said angrily. “Not if I have anything to say about it. If worse comes worse, I’ll appeal to my father and we can work something out.” “We still might be looking at temporary suspension until things get worked out, that might be bad enough.” Shiro added, unhelpfully. 

Allura gave him a disapproving look and Shiro made an apologetic gesture. He took the opportunity too help Matt set up the light. Katie sighed. “Well… There is no point in freaking out. I’ll just wait for the announcement.” She gratefully excepted the water that Coran brought her. “As the senior on the scene, I might be able to throw in some good words for you.” He said hopefully. But no one said anything.

Matt and Shiro finished setting up the lights and returned to the others. “I’m sorry Katie. This is my fault really. I left you to hold that light while I went to get the tools. If I hadn’t stopped to talk on the way I would’ve made it back in time. If anyone gets kicked out, it should be me.” Katie frowned at him. “Don’t be stupid Matt! You’re a senior! You’re almost done with school. I can’t have you kicked out now. I’ll just go find another school. It’s really not a big deal.”

Matt smiled softly at her. _“She’s always trying to be so strong.”_ He thought. Katie smacked her hands down on her legs with a _thwap_. “Alright! Enough mopping around. What will come, will come undeniably. Let’s get over it. I don’t want a pity party.” She stood up. “Let’s just finish this.”

 

Several hours later Pidge was standing in Matt and Coran’s room trying to figuring out how a tie works. She angrily tugged at the knot. “This is stupid Matt! Do I have to wear this?” Matt stuck his head around the bathroom door as he deftly tied his tie in place. “Absolutely.” Then he laughed. “Wow, okay, let me help you.”

Pidge made an unhappy sound but turned to face her brother so he could undo her mess. “You know. Maybe if Katie is kicked out, I could just stay as Pidge…” “That defeats the purpose of going to school. Pidge isn’t real and Katie wouldn’t get any credit for the work you did.” “Yeah… I was just trying to be hopeful.” She said lifting her chin so Matt could finish his work.

“There you go.” He said. “Don’t you look handsome.” “Oh stop it!” “I’m serious, any more and you’d be the better looking sibling.” “You _know_ I am the better looking sibling.” She said pursing her lips and flicking her bangs out of her face dramatically. The two of them laughed. “Hey I was thinking you could slick your hair back.” “What? No, that would be gross.” Matt pulled her into the bathroom and grabbed his hair gel.

“You don’t want to look like a vampire? I thought you were team Edward.” Pidge stomped on her brothers foot. “You promised never to bring that up.” “Ow, ow. Geez, it’s just us right now anyways.” Pidge glared at him through the mirror as he combed the gel through her hair. “If you gelled your hair, we could be twins!” Pidge said. Matt considered it. “You just want to use me as a decoy and run away from the dance don’t you?”

Pidge smiled mischievously “Maaaaaybe?” Matt put his hands to his hips. “Very well Cinderella. Since your curse is broken at midnight.” “Curse?” “Yeah, you’ll go back to being the ugly sibling.” He said with a smile as he combed gel through his hair as well. “Oh my goodness!” Pidge quickly put her glasses on and the two stared at each other. 

“Huh, what do you know.” “This is creepy.” Pidge added. “That we both look like vampires now? Yeah that’s creepy.” “No!” She laughed. “We look like the same person! Even though I’m shorter…” “Maybe no one will notice that if we don’t stand next to each other?” The two of them stood there for a little while longer until Coran came into the room. “Are you two rea… Wait a minute! You both look so alike I’ll never be able to tell you apart!”

He rubbed his chin. “You must be Pidge.” “Nope.” “Quiznak!” Pidge laughed. “I’m the shorter one.” She said putting her hand to her head to show her height. Coran nodded. “Hmm. Yes. I wont be able to remember anyways. Well, the dance starts in 15. Allura is already making her way over to the dance hall.” Pidge suddenly remember that she was escorting Allura to the dance. 

“This is going to be an interesting night. Matt I’m counting on you to cover me when I make a run for it.” “You better not leave me in a weird situation with Allura and Lotor.” He replied. “Eh, no promises.” She saw Matts expression and quickly added. “But I’ll do my best!” “Mhmm…” “Actually, I’m not sure Lotor will make it to the dance. He has a concussion after all. The lights wouldn’t do him any good.” Coran commented.

“That would be convenient. But I’m sure the girls who were waiting for a chance to dance with him will be furious. I’m not sure I like the idea of looking like you anymore, Pidge” Pidge could only shrug. It wasn’t really her fault that she kept getting herself into trouble. “It was Katie that caused that. So you’ll be fine. Besides.” She smirked a little “Blame Lance. He started this whole thing.” It was a good default. _“Sorry Lance…”_

A door opened and they heard a loud sneeze from down the hall. Lance stepped out of his dorm room. “Oh hey guys!” He called out. “Ready to go get some ladies?” He asked put a hand to his chin with a striking smile. Then he noticed Pidge and Matt. “Unless, ladies aren’t what you’re into, if you know what I mean Pidge.” He nudged Matt’s arm.

“This is going to be worse than I thought.” Matt sighed. Lance recoiled, putting his arms up in front of him. “You’re not Pidge! So you!” He pointed at Pidge this time. She smiled. “Yeah, I’m the shorter one. And I guess to those who know us, I sound different.” Matt sighed again. “Even the people I know don’t know me…” Pidge laughed. “It’ll be fiiiiiine.”

Hunk came out of the room and closed the door behind him. “You waited.” He said to Lance, sounding pleased. “Of course I did! Oh, oh! Hunk!! Which one is Pidge?” He asked, pointing to the twins. Hunk nodded thoughtfully. “This one is Pidge, the shorter one.” He said mater-of-factly. “Wow, the only one who got it right so far.” Pidge was impressed. “It must be because we have ingenuous minds.” 

Hunk patted Lance’s back. “Sorry pal. It’s like Pidge said. Great minds think alike.” Lance frowned. “Hah, well now that I know, there is no way I’ll forget.” The group made it down to the second floor and to the dance hall. Allura waved to them. “Wow Pidge, Matt, you look like twins. This should be fun.” She said taking Pidge’s arm in hers. “Although, I know my Pidge.” 

Matt gave a side glance to Coran. “Why don’t you know your Matt?” He asked grumpily. Coran chuckled nervously. “It must be a girl thing…” “Sure, I’ll let it slide.” “Allura, you look stunning!” Lance said with an exaggerated gasp. “Why thank you Lance.” “Please tell me I get at least one dance with you!” He said taking her hand and bowing. Allura pulled her hand away and Pidge smacked Lance’s arm. 

“Don’t be weird about it!” She commanded as Lance rubbed his arm. “It’s not weird! It’s gentlemanly. Is that a word?” “Beats me” Hunk shrugged. “Now let’s go find our seats. I heard the cooking majors prepared all the food. Being a minor in cooking myself, I know it’s going to be good!” He was practically drooling as he made his way inside. The others followed with laughter and high spirits.


	22. Chapter 22

The good thing about setting up the hall earlier that day, was that they got first picks on seating. They were able to fit the whole group at one table. Pidge made a note that Allura was sitting between her and Shiro. She figured she wouldn’t be conversing much with her roommate. At least Matt was sitting across from her. But she wasn’t too pleased that Lance was next to her.

“I’m telling you, if you spill anything on my suit, or make me drop my food, I will kill you.” She warned him as soon as he took his seat next to her. “Don’t give me such a scary expression when you say that.” Her frown intensified and Lance laughed nervously. “Okay, I understand. I’ll keep my hands down today.” “That’s right.”

Lance also didn’t seem very excited to be sitting next to Pidge and not Allura. He kept shooting Shiro unhappy looks. Everyone was seated expect for Keith. “Is he not coming?” Hunk asked. Shiro shrugged. “He said it depended on how he felt. But we know dances aren’t really his thing.” “I thought he’d come for the food at least.” Hunk said worriedly. 

At that moment a stranger approached their table. “Hello. I’m sorry to be intruding, uninvited like this. But Keith and I apparently switched places. Although I had no idea about it.” He put an apologetic hand behind his head. The group stared at him. “Apparently we’re going to have two twins at the table.” Lance said flatly. “Two twins?” the stranger asked.

He noticed Pidge and Matt, and then Shiro. The two stared at each other as the others looked back and forth between the two. “You look a lot like Shiro…” Allura commented. The stranger laughed, “I guess so. You know, I’ve heard that everyone has a doppelgänger out there somewhere, but it’s bad luck to run into them. May I?” He asked, motioning to Keith’s empty seat. 

“Go right ahead.” Matt said scooting over a bit. “My name is Kuro by the way.” He said as he sat down next to Matt and pulled his chair in. “How funny, that us look alikes will both be sitting across from each other.” He smiled at Shiro who returned the favor. “I’ve never seen you before. What are you majoring in?” _“Well at least Shiro is weirded out by this.”_ Pidge thought as the two hit it off, getting carried into deep conversation. 

Pidge looked at Allura who seemed agitated. “You okay now that there are two of the guy you like?” Pidge asked her quietly. She gave Pidge a look. “Am I that obvious? Well, I it doesn’t matter. At least Shiro doesn’t seemed phased by it.” Everyone else was still staring at Shiro and Kuro. “They look so alike its uncanny. At least you and Pidge are related and it makes sense.” Coran said to Matt. 

Hunk was busy with his food and Lance was waiting for his chance to interrupt Kuro. “Hey, sorry. I’m Lance. Where exactly is Keith? Like what table?” He finally asked. Kuro looked at him. “Oh he would be over at table 13.” “Thanks” Lance craned his neck to look over the crowd of people steadily filing the room. “But I don’t see him…” Hunk stopped eating for a moment. “Lance. You told me you wouldn’t do this to yourself.” “I know, I know. But he didn’t even sit with us. I feel that’s a personal attack!” 

Pidge couldn’t help listening in on the conversation. “Lance, don’t take it personally. It’s Keith. From what I’ve learned about him, he is probably moody about something and doesn’t want us to know.” “That’s never stopped him before.” Lance said folding his arms across his chest. “But fine. I said I wouldn’t worry about him tonight, so I wont.” Hunk nodded gratefully. “That’s right. It’s about time you destress.” 

“Right!” “Want to go get more food with me?” Hunk asked. Lance nodded and they left the table. Pidge watched them go and sure enough Lance was still looking around the room searching for Keith. “He is hopeless…” she smiled and turned her attention across the table to Matt. “I heard Hunk say there was pasta.” She said. Their eyes locked. “Let’s go!” She and Matt stood up to follow behind Hunk and Lance.

“We’re stereotypical Italians after all.” Matt said with a laugh as they walked back to their table with plates of spaghetti and dinner rolls. “I guess we are. But nothing beats moms cooking for sure.” Pidge said shoving her roll into her mouth. Matt nodded. 

Dinner was soon over and the dancing was about to begin. Pidge really didn’t feel much like dancing, but Allura wanted to get up and move around. “Shiro is completely distracted by Kuro right now.” She said with a sigh as they made their way to the dance floor to join the other students. Pidge nervously took Allura’s hand.

She smiled at her roommate. “We practiced this one, don’t worry. If you forget, I’ll just lead.” Pidge laughed. “Let’s be honest, you already lead.” The two spun around the dance floor elegantly enough and Pidge was feeling better about herself. Then she spotted Lotor on the other side of the hall. There were several girls around him asking for a dance, but he and Pidge were staring at each other. Pidge purposely turned Allura so that her back was to Lotor.

Allura caught sight of Lotor over Pidge’s shoulder. “Oh, is that why you spun me?” She nodded. “I want nothing to do with that guy right now. Not as Pidge anyways. He looks just fine, I don’t know why I was worried about him.” “He probably made it a point to spread the story about his accident and then still show up. He must think it makes him look more manly.” Allura rolled her eyes. “He is predictable at times when his public image is at stake.” Pidge nodded.

“And right now, my public image is at stake so I don’t need him coming over here and telling me to say goodbye to my “sister,” because she’ll be expelled after what she’s done to him.” Allura danced them further into the middle of the crowded dance floor to avoid Lotor’s eyes. “I’m telling you that won’t happen! I won’t allow it.” Pidge grinned at her roommate. “Thanks for always having my back. Like everyone, really. You guys always watch out for me.”

Allura smiled back, “But I thought you didn’t like us being so protective.” “I don’t! But it’s different from being constricting and controlling. You just help me from the sidelines while I do my own thing and screw up at my own pace.” The two laughed. “Oh Pidge! You aren’t screwing things up… if anything you’re trying to fix Lance’s screw up.”

“And talking about him…” Pidge gestured with her head toward Lance who had already swept a girl off her feet to dance with. “Looks like he is taking Hunk’s advice.” Allura pursed her lips in thought. “Hmm, looks like it. I do hope he feels better. I just know he is crushed that Keith didn’t show up.” Pidge shrugged somewhat sympathetically. 

“Keith is his own man. If he and Lance had some sort of fallout, he has the right to avoid the awkward situation until he is ready to handle it. Lance probably has a hard time accepting that because he is kinda emotional.” Allura let her hands slide off of Pidge’s shoulders as the song ended. “You’re right. Again, it’s none of my business to get involved in it. I just don’t like seeing them troubled.” 

Pidge nodded. “I’m with you there. It kinda brings the whole group down huh?” The next song started up and the two roommates where about to continue dancing when Lance stealthy slipped between them and stole Allura out of Pidge’s arms. “Hey!” She called after him as he laughed and disappeared into the crowd.

 _“Well I guess that’s that’s then… So much for worrying about him too.”_ Pidge thought as she excused herself from in-between the dancing couples. There was a tap on her shoulder, interrupting her escape, and she was pulled back onto the dance floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello my fine folks,
> 
> I’ve finally got back into writing the story. Thank you for waiting so patiently for me to get my shit together so that I could continue. Lol  
> I’ll be trying to post at least 2 chapters a week! It’s nice to know that there are others out there that are enjoying my story! :3
> 
> ~Thanks so much!


	23. Chapter 23

Strong arms guided her back into the crowd of people and out of view of their table. Pidge was spun abruptly and when she was turned back toward her surprise dance partner she was ready to let them have an earful. “If you don’t..! Oh.” She caught her breath, “Keith..?” 

He looked nonchalant about dancing with her, but Pidge suddenly realized how odd this looked. She gave him a confused and semi-panicked look. “What? Everyone knows I’m gay anyways…” he said grumpily. “Besides… I know you’re not really who you are right now, so this shouldn’t be weird for you.” “I don’t care about that. What if they think we… you know?” He shrugged. “I don’t care if you don’t care.”

Pidge didn’t know what to say to that so she just kept dancing with him, although she noted that she was dancing the girls part. She tried not to look around at the others who were giving them looks as she let Keith guide her through the dance steps. And for the better because she didn’t know this one. “Hey Keith?”

“Yeah?” “Why… are we dancing?” He seemed uncomfortable but answered anyways, “Because I saw Lance take Allura away from you so I felt… bad. It was just rude okay?” Pidge raised an eyebrow but smiled a little at his reason. “That was nice of you. But you didn’t have to put yourself out there like this. I know you don’t really care for crowds.” “You do?”

Keith seemed genuinely surprised. “Yeah. I’m not like Lance.” Keith flinched. _“Whoops.. shouldn’t have said that.”_ She coughed, “I can tell what my friends like or don’t like. You’re definitely more of an introvert. I’m surprised you showed up at all actually.” “Wait, what do you mean you can tell what I like or don’t like..?” Pidge snorted.

She knew he was asking her if she knew he liked Lance, but she decided to ignore that so as not to make things more awkward. “I can tell that you like being alone is what I meant. Or at least you like to do your own thing. I can understand that. I like to do my own thing to!” “You’re way more social than I am.” “If you mean less grumpy, ya!” Keith laughed a little at that.

She smiled back, happy to see he appreciated her come back. “Why did you sit at table 13?” “Because I was assigned there.” “You were? Didn’t you have a seat at our table? We helped set up so La... we made sure you would sit with us!” Keith’s eyebrows drew together. “Really…?” Pidge suddenly realized that someone must have switched his and Kuro’s places.

“Who is sitting in my seat?” Keith asked, ignoring the glances they got from others as he led Pidge into the next dance. “Some guy called Kuro. He looks a lot like Shiro! It’s actually kinda creepy. I’ve never seen him before. I think he is a transfer student?” Keith craned his neck to try catching view of their table. “I want to go see this guy.”

Pidge stopped dancing and pulled his hand. “Alright, let’s go.” “Right now?” “Yes. This is too suspicious for us not to address right now.” Keith didn’t stop her from leading him through the crowd and back to the table. Kuro and Shiro were still sitting, talking to each other and Matt waved at them from next to Coran. 

“Keith! Glad to see you made it!” Shiro said as they arrived. “Yeah, I didn’t know I had a spot at your table.” He said coldly. Kuro seemed uneasy under Keiths stare and laughed nervously. “I thought I was sitting at table 13 with my group, but then it had your name and apparently I was sitting here.” He made an effort to stand up, but Keith held out a hand to stop him. “It’s fine man. Looks like someone played a trick on us and switched our spots.” 

Pidge took the opportunity to sit back down in her spot across from Matt. “I saw you two dancing. Let’s hope Lance didn’t see that.” Matt whispered to her as he leaned across the table. Pidge waved her hand impatiently at him. “I don’t care about that.” Matt looked confused. “Don’t you get it? Lance doesn’t have to feel bad now because Keith didn’t purposely avoid us! I want to know who switched their places.”

“I guess he did show up, so that should be proof enough.” “No, no it won’t! We have to explain to Lance that Keith isn’t avoiding him.” “Pidge, I know you like the idea of clearing up the misunderstanding, and I think we should. But don’t do anything more than that. What’s between Lance and Keith, should stay between them.” “Gosh darn it, I know, I know. Everyone keeps telling me that.”

He smirked. “So then you should get the hint.” She gave him a sassy expression. “Yes I get it. I won’t meddle with their affairs.” Her attention was brought back to Keith and Shiro. Apparently Kuro felt bad and insisted that he move back to table 13. He left with a cheerful wave, “hope to see you guys again.” Keith was now saying something under his breath to Shiro who looked concerned. 

_“I wonder what they’re talking about…”_ Pidge tried to inconspicuously lean closer to them but pulled away when Shiro sat back in his chair. “Huh, that is kind of suspicious. But Keith, he’s a transfer student. Maybe he met the guys in class?” Keith grunted and folded his arms across his chest. “Why would he say _my_ group… I’ll have to ask them myself, but I really doubt he knows them.” “He’s new, maybe he was just randomly seated, and then someone moved your name cards.”

Keith didn’t seem convinced, but he was done with the conversation. He sat down across from Shiro in his reclaimed spot at the table. “At least Lance can stop being an idiot now.” He said quietly as he looked across the dance floor. Lance had let Allura go somewhere between the time that Pidge and Keith had danced, because he was with another girl this time. “Where does he find the time to know everyone?” Keith asked in agitation.

Shiro laughed. “He’s a really extroverted person, are you really surprised?” “No.” Hunk came back to the table with a plate of desserts. “Keith! You _did_ come! Lance will be so glad.” “Yeah, yeah. I couldn’t stand seeing him dragging himself around all day yesterday and today. It didn’t help when Shiro kept updating me on his mood.” Shiro shrugged innocently as Hunk sat down with them. 

“He wears his emotions on his sleeve as always.” Keith noted. Hunk nodded. “But that’s what makes Lance so easy to understand and get to know.” Keith frowned and Hunk stopped mid-bite “For me anyways,” he added quickly. “Pidge these cannolis are really good, and have you tried the cheesecake?” He casually changed the subject. “No, I didn’t get the chance to go for dessert because people kept dancing with me. Matt come with me to get some!” Matt sighed but got up.

“I’m still digesting my dinner.” “As if, that was at least an hour ago by now. Besides, you weren’t dancing so your stomach should be just fine.” “Touché…” The twins made their way over to the dessert table, avoiding the crowded dance floor. “So why did Keith dance with you?” Matt asked as he slid a slice of tiramisu onto his plate. 

“Something along the lines of feeling responsible for Lance stealing Allura from me.” “That’s… actually really nice of him.” “I know!” Pidge said before she popped a puff pastry into her mouth. “I thought dinner was good, but the culinary class really outdid themselves with the dessert! Look at all this good stuff!” Matt laughed at her excitement. “I almost judged Hunk for coming back here so often. He was probably being polite and trying to take a few things at a time.”

Pidge nodded. “Hunk is always polite! He’s pretty great like that.” And Matt had to agree. “Did you notice how he always smells like cinnamon?” He asked. Pidge looked at him with a _“wait – what?”_ kind of expression but after some thought her eyes widened in realization. “You’re right! He smells wonderful!” They laughed. “He minors in culinary arts, so it shouldn’t be that surprising.”

“Who minors in culinary arts?” Hunks voice made them jump. “Ahhaha, you do… right?” Matt asked as they turned to face him. The siblings exchanged looks hoping that Hunk hadn’t heard them talking about the way he smelled. _“As nice as he is, that would come off as creepy I’m sure…”_ Pidge chuckled to herself. Hunk didn’t appear to have heard them because he just nodded enthusiastically. 

“Yes I minor in cooking, to put it simply. What do you guys think of the food? Didn’t they do a really good job? Especially the tiramisu!” Hunk added as he noticed the piece of coffee cake on Matt’s plate. As her brother and Hunk talked about their favorite desserts, Pidge noticed Allura making her way off the dance floor. It seemed that she finally got the chance to escape.

“I’ll be right back” Pidge said leaving Hunk and Matt and making her way over to Allura. She thought she had been doing very well avoiding Lotor the whole time, and it seemed that he was also keeping distance between them, but sure enough as soon as she was on her own, he found a way of intercepting her. 

“Pidge.” He strolled right into her path and she frowned as she watched Allura pass by on her way back to their table. “Really? What?” She asked trying not to fold her arms over her chest in annoyance. Lotor’s eyebrows drew together in anger at her reaction but he did not raise his voice. “I just wanted to tell you that I have no intention of having Katie suspended from school.”

“What…?” Pidge was taken aback. _“Did I hear that right?”_ Lotor cleared his throat. “I won’t let Katie be kicked out of school. So would you tell her not to hide from me?” “But.. why? Why do you keep bother her. She isn’t interested in you. She doesn’t even want to make new friends. She likes to keep to herself for a reason you know.” Lotor grimaced. “I don’t expect _you_ to understand. Just, please tell her that it’s fine. I know it was an accident and I don’t hold it against her.”

Lotor smoothed his suit with one hand and walked away without another word leaving an awkward silence. The corner of Pidge’s mouth was still pulled up in a disgusted look. “What?” She shook her head, and made her way back to the table. _“What does he want with Katie that he keeps giving her special treatment?”_


	24. Chapter 24

“He said he wasn’t going to let Katie get kicked out of school?” Allura sounded incredulous. Even the others at the table looked at Pidge with disbelief. “I’d say that’s a first” Coran said thoughtfully. “Pidge what exactly did… Katie do when you met Lotor?” “Our first encounter was really awkward. I was too self-conscious to really look at him and I guess I came off as really shy?” Allura laughed, “Lotor actually apologized and walked away! Things were already strange from the beginning.”

Matt and Hunk returned to the table and were quickly updated. “Our small Pidge, doing big things.” Matt said tapping the table with his fork. “I’m not surprised, after seeing the way he was when we were setting up for the dance.” Pidge was relieved that she wasn’t going to be kicked out of school, but also very uncomfortable that Lotor was acting so oddly for Katie. 

“I’m going to stop thinking about this because it’s really kinda scaring me.” She shuddered and folded her hands on top of the table. “Whatever the reason, I for one will not be treating him specially. And I guess I am a bit grateful not to be exiled from school.” Cheering from the crowd on the dance floor stole everyone’s attention.

“Oh this is the last formal dace before the DJ takes over.” Allura said clapping her hands excitedly. “Shiro, please!” Shiro was already on his feet offering a hand to her as a voice came on over the speakers. “Alriiiiiiiiight everybody! Tonight’s last dance is our most famous! Can the boys line up on one side of the stage and girls on the other please.” 

The room was buzzing with excited chatter as the dancers did as they were told. “Now hold up a minute. What’s going on here? We have many more female dancers then males! This won’t do at all! You lazy bums get your asses out here and dance with a pretty lady. Ya you, in the corner there, and I mean all of you who are just sitting and doing nothing. Stop your eating and grow a pair!” The man on the microphone went around the room harassing students who weren’t doing anything important enough to sit the last dance out. 

The group quickly realized that they’d have to participate and Pidge didn’t like the idea one bit. “I just sat down! Come on!” She whined as Matt and Shiro lifted her by the arms to her feet. “Come along Pigeon.” Matt said, “if Hunk can do it, you can too.” Shiro added giving her a little push ahead of them toward the dance floor. She sulkily got in line with her friends. 

There was laughing at the front of the line and Pidge peered over the boys to see what was going on. Some of the girls were pushing Lance out of their line and over to the boys side. He was laughing and shrugging sheepishly “worth a shot” he was saying. Hunk facepalmed next to Pidge. “Oh my gosh Lance…” but he was smiling. 

Tapping on the microphone brought the talking to a soft murmur. “This is looking much better. Alright now, for those of you who are new to this dance, here are the rules!” The speaker got up on stage while the DJ started setting things up behind him. “The rose of passion please!” He demanded loudly, and someone hurriedly passed him a single rose. 

“You guys see this pretty flower? This is a sign of your love! Can the first girl in line come sit in the middle chair, and I need two boys to sit on either side of her.” The first in line did as they were told and sat down in the three chairs in the front of both lines. “Very good, very good.” As it happened, Lance was one of the boys to be first.

“How did he get in the front of the line when he was just kicked out of the girls line?” Pidge asked. Hunk didn’t have an explanation. “Lance magic.” Was all he came up with. “Hmm.” The instructor continued to explain the point of the dance. He gave the rose to the girl in the middle. “Now your job is to give the flower to the boy you will leave behind! It’s like an apology flower for him being unattractive.” She didn’t hesitate and handed the flower to the boy on her right, who flushed slightly.

The crowd laughed and made teasing remarks to the poor fellow who was not picked. Lance and the girl were then instructed to dance there way down the line and “Since this was practice I won’t make it count so go to the end of the line, both of you. You.” He addressed the guy who was left, “Love is cruel is it not?” The crowd laughed again. “You get to sit in the middle now and hand off the flower to the girl you don’t want to dance with.”

He waved two girls from their line to come sit down next to him. “We get the point of this right? Good! Once you find your happy couple, dance your way down the line and back to your seats or you know… somewhere to make-out.” The crowd went wild again and he laughed “But I’m not suppose to encourage that. Please don’t kick me out of the school principle Zarkon.” He added with a nervous chuckle. 

The music started and so did the dance. It moved rather quickly and a few times you would get that smart-ass that left the rose on his chair and escorted both the ladies down the line. Pidge was annoyed about that. It threw the balance of the lines off and it was a pity tack anyway! Maybe she was just annoyed that she had to do this stupid dance. 

She glared at Lotor as he sashayed down the line with both girls. Of course he was one of the boys who left the rose on the chair and took both ladies. To make matter worse she ended up sitting with Shiro on either side of Allura. Allura held the rose, not sure what to do. To the crowds great amusement Pidge took the rose from her hands and shooed the two down the line. She rolled her eyes at Allura and Shiro grinning at each other as they took hands to waltz.

Pidge felt silly having to pick between girls when she thought they were both prettier than she was. She handed the flower to one of the girls with an apologetic shrug and took the other by the hand. She smiled at Pidge and mouthed “thank you” as they made their way back to their seats. Pidge just nodded back. She was grateful to be done standing in line and having the pressure of having to pick someone off her shoulders. 

She sat down with a satisfied sigh next to Allura and Shiro. “That dance was du…” she stopped herself short when she saw that Allura and Shiro were still holding hands. _“Oh… it wasn’t dumb for everyone then.”_ She gave Allura a sly smile and wiggled her eyebrows at her. Allura made sure to see if Shiro had noticed and then slapped Pidge on the knee playfully. “Hush you.” She said. But she couldn’t stop the soft glow from appearing on her cheeks.

They watched as Matt was picked to dance down the ever smaller line and back to his seat, leaving Hunk with the rose. “Oh poor Hunk. I would’ve picked him!” Pidge said, but she noticed that he didn’t mind because he got to pick his own girl to dance with. She had very rosy cheeks and cute dimples when she smiled at him. “Aww” Allura and Pidge said together. “Never mind, this was good.” 

Matt sat down next to Pidge and laughed. “Oh this should be good!” He pointed to the few remaining students in line. “Keith and Lance are the last two in the boys line. I’ve already done the math.” Hunk said a quick goodbye to his dance partner and came back to the table. “She was sweet” he said. Pidge leaned over Matt to nudge him. “Ey, ey?” He laughed. “No Pidge. You already have to worry about your ship settling sail on the other side of you.”

Pidge glanced at Allura and Shiro. “I’ll take credit for it.” She said nodding seriously. “Did you guys realize how this is going to end?” Hunk asked. Pidge turned back to the dance floor where there were now two girls sitting on either side of a boy. He picked one and they danced off, back to their seats. Pidge looked at the remaining number in the line and quickly noticed what Matt and Hunk were talking about. Even Allura and Shiro started laughing now.

“Who set this up now?” Shiro asked. The end of the line had arrived and the girl left the rose on the seat and took the two boys with her off the dance floor. Matt whistled, “This couldn’t have been planned.” It was now the boys turn to sit in the middle and Keith was up, so he took the rose and sat in the middle chair. It was clear he already put together the situation and he was not happy about it. In fact he seemed rather sour.

There was only one girl left and she sat down next to Keith. Lance shrugged and walked over to where the girls line had been and did little twirl as if he had a dress on. He bowed to the cheering audience and went to go sit on the other side of Keith who squirmed uncomfortably. “Only Lance.” Allura laughed as the others whistled and cheered them on. The room suddenly got quieter as everyone waited to see how things would play out.

Keith looked at the rose in his hands and his face was visibly burning red. “Poor guy” Hunk said sympathetically, “Anymore and his face will match the color of the rose!” Coran added. Keith turned to Lance, holding the rose in front of him. His hand moved to give him the rose but at the last second Keith turned and handed it to the girl. The crowed erupted into cheers and noise. 

Lance’s face lit up as Keith held out his hand to him, not making eye contact. Lance stood up quickly and led them down the dance floor in a sexy salsa to even more applause. The girl was left sitting alone with a hurt expression as she realized that the guy she liked wasn’t just into girls. _“Tough luck”_ Pidge thought. There was loud laughter as Lance dipped Keith before they stepped off the dance floor. Lance was radiant and smiling from ear to ear. Keith was blushing bright red, but he didn’t look one bit upset.

They made their way back to the table to join the group. Shiro patted Keith’s back while Hunk, Pidge and Matt slapped Lance several times, teasing him about his bold move. “Well…” the DJ laughed into his microphone. “That was an unexpected ending, but the best I’ve ever seen! Alright folks, without further ado, LET’S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!”


	25. Chapter 25

The rest of the night went very well, or at least in Pidge’s opinion. Lance and Keith were on good terms again and Pidge had even been able to tell Lance about the mix-up in seating. “I knew there had to be something!” Lance said angrily. “If I find out who did that, it won’t be pretty.” “Woah, calm down dude.” Keith said, “I’m suppose to be the angry one.” Lance laughed. “Alright, I’ll leave you to what you do best!” He snapped his fingers and pointed guns toward Keith, who scoffed. 

“Excuse me? I meant in the play Lance. At least I don’t flirt with every girl to make myself feel better. I accept my aggressive feelings.” Lance put a hand to his chest and recoiled. “Ow man, that hit right here. How was I suppose to know you were talking about the play?” He pretended to wipe a tear from the corner of his eye. “Because we were talking about acting…” “No we weren’t!” “Yes we were!” Lance rolled his eyes. “Well, you still have to apologize.” “No I don’t!” “Then I’ll make you apologize!”

At the end of the last dance, the girl who had been rejected by Keith brought the rose and gave it to Lance. He had accepted it with a smile, not even stopping to think of the symbolic message behind it. He now located it on the table and picking it up, put it into his mouth. He started to wiggle his head and sway his hips while looking at Keith and raising his eyebrows. “No, no! Stop that right now. How do you even wiggle all of your body at once like that?” 

Keith took a step back, blushing and looking away, but that didn’t stop Lance. “I won’t stop embarrassing you until you say sorry.” He said in a sing-song voice, holding the rose between his teeth. “Alright, good lord! I’m sorry.” “Too late!” Lance took Keith’s hand and dragged him back onto the dance floor.

“It’s good to see that they’re doing fine.” Pidge said happily as the two disappeared into them crowd. “Very fine.” Matt added. “You jelly?” Pidge asked nudging her brother. “Nope. Too much drama!” Pidge thought laughed, “For sure! Just thinking about it makes me tired.” Actually, she was tired and she rested her head on Matt’s shoulder. “These are the only times I’m grateful you are there taller one.” She commented. Matt’s laugh shook her head, “hey, don’t move!” “Oh, sorry. You’re such a delicate flower.” “Am not!” 

Allura looked over her shoulder at her roommate. “Aw, Pidge, do you need to go back to the room?” “Yes. My battery is at 1%!” “Your poor introverted battery” Allura cooed teasingly. Pidge stuck her tongue out. “You all wouldn’t understand me.” Matt patted his sisters back. “There, there. The world isn’t going to fall apart. Just go back to your room and call it a night.” Pidge stood up. “That’s some good advice.”

“Goodnight everyone!” “Is it that late already? Wow, 11 o’clock rolled around pretty quick.” Coran said in surprise as he checked his watch. Allura seemed sad that Pidge was leaving already but nodded in understanding. “Alright, goodnight Pidge!” Shiro waved as well, and Hunk gave her a big hug. “See you tomorrow. We still need to talk about how you made Rover.” “Right! We’ll nerd about it for sure!” 

Matt tugged her sleeve as she turned to go. “Don’t forget your things in our room. Get dressed in that closet I showed you on the second floor.” Pidge nodded, “I know. Night Matt.” “Goodnight!” She waved one last time and made a hasty escape from the loud hall. She sighed a little sigh of relief once she was past the heavy doors and out on the other side. It was much quieter already. Her ears were still ringing a bit.

She made her way casually to the 3rd floor to grab her backpack with Katie’s outfit. “If boys and girls are going to party, chaperones will be watching likes hawks for sure!” Matt had warned her. “Someone might catch you going to the girls floor or into the girls bathroom to get dressed.” Even if everyone _was_ supposed to be at the dance, there was the chance that a couple would try to sneak out as the announcer had teased at the end of the Rose dance. That was a risk that Principle Zarkon was not going to take. Sure enough, there were some teachers sitting in the lounge areas outside. They watched as Pidge made her way to the stairwell. 

_“Surprise, surprise that they’d be guarding the doors.”_ Pidge thought with a small sting of irritation. All the adults here treated them like kids. They’d never enjoy college life like this. _“Although,”_ she thought, _“it’s most likely that the threat of being fired is causing them to follow Zarkon’s dumb rules. Power is everything.”_ She walked up the flight of stairs to the boys dorm rooms and quickly found room 13. Inside she grabbed her backpack and let Rover out. 

The little robot zipped around the room, figuring out its place in the world. It came back to Pidge, “Welcome home, Pidge,” it beeped out in its robotic voice. “It’s good to see that you’ve registered me with the correct name.” Pidge commented as she patted the robot, making it bob in the air. Satisfied that she wasn’t forgetting anything, she left the room to head back to the second floor. “Rover, seek.”

The drone flew ahead of her to search for people that might be trouble. With Rover’s help, Pidge managed to find the janitors closet at the end of a hallway without being seen by any of the chaperones. They hadn’t thought that Pidge was up to anything, so of course, no one was looking for suspicious behavior. At least not when they had to keep tabs of who stepped out of the dance hall. 

_“I think I’ve gotten too good at breaking rules.”_ Pidge chuckled a she slipped into the unlocked closet. It was empty, save for a mop and bucket. No wonder they didn’t bother to lock it up. Better for her though, she wasn’t complaining. She quickly got dressed into her outfit that she had worn to help set up the dance hall earlier that day. She was about to step out when she remember to put Rover away.

“You belong to Pidge, and I have to be extra cautious.” She said apologetically as she turned her robot off and tucked it into her backpack. “Talking about being cautious… I wonder if I should get a different backpack? What if people realize I have the same one as Pidge? Maybe that’s being paranoid.” She shrugged to herself and after peeking out to make sure the coast was clear, left the closet. 

Katie had made it to the end of the hallway and was walking back out into the common area when she saw Lance, Keith, and the boys from their theater group step out of the dance hall. They were walking away from her and toward the 3rd floor, talking rather loudly. She was grateful that they hadn’t made eye contact. _“That’s one way of rebelling.”_ She thought with a cheeky grin. _“There technically aren’t any rules for boys not to be together.”_

“I wonder what they are up to?” Katie almost jumped out of her skin as the voice spoke out of nowhere. She turned toward the person who spoke so suddenly. “Shiro? I thought you were…” she trailed off as she realized it wasn’t Shiro, but Kuro. She opened her mouth to greet him, but realized that Katie wouldn’t know him. She shut it again quickly before she could say anything.

“I’m sorry if I startled you. And no I’m not Shiro, apparently we look a lot like each other. Just met the guy tonight actually. Sorry for the confusion.” He smiled warmly at her. “My name is Kuro,” he held out a hand to her, “what’s yours?” Katie hesitated for a moment not sure if she wanted to get involved with someone who might be close to their group, but she didn’t have a choice or she’d look rude.

“I’m Katie.” She said taking his hand to shake. She noticed that unlike Shiro, he didn’t have a bionic arm. “Quite a grip you’ve got for a girl.” He laughed. “Escaping from the dance?” He asked, openly making a note of her more casual clothing. “Uh, no, it’s not my kind of thing. I was just reading and I’m heading back to my room now. Sorry to mistake you for someone else, goodnight!” She waved and made a quick escape before he could say any more.

Back in the safety of her room, she leaned against the door and let out a loud sigh. _“How am I going to make it through this semester if I keep bumping into people that know Pidge?”_ She thought worriedly as she dumped her belonging out on her bed. She carefully put Rover in his spot on her desk, and then hung up the suit that Allura had bought for her. She brushed out the wrinkles as best she could and hoped that Allura could return it since she’d probably never use it again. 

She happily got into her pajamas, and then into bed. She was grateful that tomorrow would be Sunday, which meant sleeping-in day. She wouldn’t have any responsibilities and she could work on improving Rover! The thought of that made her excited. She needed the break for sure. The past week had been pretty crazy, and she was sure it would only get worse. She hoped to god it wouldn’t.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey my dudes,
> 
> Thanks again for reading my story! I got busy with art comissions, so I apologize for the slow progress, but progress it still is!  
> Here’s a question (or two, or three...) for you!  
> What do you guys want to see in the story? Just curious to see if I can add any of your suggestions to spice things up.  
> Also, what do you like about the story so far, and what might you want to see more of? :3  
> Basically I want your opinions. I can’t promise that I’ll make it happen, but I’m curious as to what you guys like and why you like it. 
> 
> In any case, peace out my folks. I need my coffee break. :T
> 
> P.S - Yes I changed Bae Bae’s name to Rover.


	26. BONUS CHAPTER

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys. I’m sorry I’m so bad at committing to this story. ;-; I’ve been so busy with art commissions and just life in general. This is more of a side hobby for me, but fear not, for I shall finish it! - Eventually - 
> 
> Anyways, here is a bonus chapter for you. I’m not the only one struggling with commitment issues. ;) 
> 
> If you’re homophobic, skip this mushy chapter entirely, but for those of you who are into Klance...  
> *nosebleed* ehem - read this chapter.

Lance had nervously agreed to go with Keith and his “gang” of rebels to drink and party the right way back in the dorms. When they had asked him, he had shrugged it off like it was no big deal. But Lance already knew for a fact that he was a light weight and he didn’t want to look weak in front of Keith. AND finding an excuse not to tag along would have also made him look weak. To put it simply, he was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

He could feel his palms getting sweaty as they made their way to the 3rd floor. At the same time though, he was excited that he’d being doing something with Keith and his group of friends. He always saw them hanging out together, acting all secretive, and Lance found that side of Keith very attractive. Of course he wanted to be “in” with his group of cool friends. Childish? Maybe. But sometimes he was jealous of the bond Keith seemed to have with his other friends.

Lance followed Keith to the dorm the other four shared. He nervously pulled on his tie to loosen it, something that Keith hadn’t even bothered to wear. In fact he didn’t even have a dress coat, just a red dress shirt. It was so casual, in a fancy way, that Lance kept finding himself staring at Keith’s exposed collarbone. He looked away quickly after Keith caught him and asked, “What? Is there something on my shirt?” “I… just realized you didn’t wear a tie. Mine was getting tight.” 

Keith scoffed, “Of course I wouldn’t wear one unless I had to. Take it off if its bothering you.” He gestured impatiently as they entered the dorm room. The four boys had gotten the biggest room, but only because it could fit all four of them. “There was no way I was rooming with a stranger…” Kolivan was saying as he crossed his arms and sat down in a chair. “That would have been a big setback…” Trace nodded, taking his preferred spot on his bed.

Keith closed the door behind Lance as he stepped into the room. Antok came out of the bathroom holding the goods. “You hid them in the bathroom?” Keith asked with a laugh as he took the bottle that was offered to him. Antok shrugged, “Surprisingly it passed as one of Ulaz’s cologne bottles.” Ulaz shot his roommate a dirty look. “My cologne doesn’t smell like cheap alcohol!” “Just saying, maybe that’s why girls run away from you. But that just might be your looks. Or lack thereof.” Antok winked teasingly at Lance who cracked a nervous grin.

He felt like an outsider. He hardly knew the other four and Keith acted differently around them. More comfortable and less grumpy. He laughed more that night then Lance had ever seen him do in a week. He was confused by his mess of emotions. Half of him was delighted to see this side of Keith and hear him laugh and joke, but the other side of him was viciously hurt that Keith wasn’t like that with him. But, he reminded himself, Keith had asked him to join him tonight with his friends. So that had to count for something right?

At this point the drinks were being passed around and the challenge was to see who could break Kolivan’s record of drinking all 18 of Ulaz’s “deadly mix drinks.” Lance gulped. He was still holding the first drink that Keith had handed to him. He casually set it down on one of the dressers in the hopes that it would be mixed up with the other cups and he wouldn’t have to claim it. Keith called his attention back to the group. “I don’t know if Lance can do it… I haven’t seen him drink a thing the whole time we’ve been here in school or even at parties.”

Lance puffed up his chest. “I can do it!” He tried not to frown at the stench from the drink as he grabbed it off the table. “I was just waiting for the good stuff to come out!” He down the drink in one go… and regretted it immediately. He put a hand to his mouth to keep himself from gagging. The others started to laugh and tease as they finished their drinks easily. Keith smiled at Lance. “Dude,” he nudged him, “You don’t have to do the challenge, it’s been a thing we’ve done since we formed the brotherhood.”

“Oh yeah? So if I do this challenge I’ll be a part of the brotherhood?” Lance challenged back. Keith’s eyebrows drew together for a second, and he glanced at Kolivan. The others thought about it before Kolivan nodded. “You can be a part of the brotherhood if you can beat my record.” The others jeered, “Ooooh, man that’s gonna be hard!” Trace whistled. “Good luck man.” He added with a pitying nod. 

Lance’s face was set with determination, “Oh I’ll show you.” He said with a smirk. Keith gave him a slightly concerned look, but let him alone, “Good luck,” he chuckled as Ulaz mixed up the next row. “Alright men, it was nice knowing you.” Ulaz said when he finished. They triumphantly held up the plastic cups and did a round of cheers before drinking.

Again Lance’s stomach lurched and he coughed for a few minutes after the second drink. Keith patted his back as the others roared with laughter. But Lance was determined not to lose. He gritted his teeth and slammed his cup down onto the table. “Let’s go!” He yelled, much to the others delight. “It’s on now!!” Antok shouted back, finishing his drink and putting his cup down on the table. Ulaz jumped to his feet to mix the drinks.

Lance’s face was already burning and his stomach was on fire. He took his tie and dress coat off to help keep cool. Keith took them both and tossed them onto one of the beds. “Don’t kill yourself,” he added as Lance swallowed the contents of the third drink. He couldn’t taste anything at this point, his mouth was numbed by the bad alcohol. “What?” He half shouted at Keith. His ears were starting to ring as well. Keith looked worried, but said nothing as Lance demanded the next round.

The other four were getting a kick out of this. “Haven’t had a fresh victim in a while.”Ulaz was laughing loudly, already buzzed. “Just because I make them doesn’t mean I can hold my liquor!” He said to Lance, one finger pointed toward the ceiling. Lance held his cup up, “I can do better than you!” He yelled at Ulaz who laughed back “It’s not me you have to beat light-weight.” They continued their banter as Ulaz filled everyone’s cups again.

By the tenth drink, Keith realized that this was a very, VERY bad idea. After the fifteen drink, he was regretting the whole thing. He was already worried about Lance after the first drink, but now even he had dropped out. Lance was completely drunk and still roaring for the next round. It was just him and Kolivan, they had three more rounds to go before they would reach the last round. Keith had to move over because Lance was gesturing violently with his arms and boasting that he could beat anyone at a drinking game even if he was wasted and dying. 

Keith frowned because he knew that was true and he didn’t like it. At least tomorrow would be Sunday so Lance would get the chance to recover without being found out by the authorities of the school. That was another strict rule here, no drinking on campus unless permission was given due to a school project, or a school hosted party, in which they controlled the alcohol anyways. 

He sat Lance back down in his chair when he attempted to stand up on it to raise a toast. “Oh let him!” Ulaz was laughing so hard. Even Trace had cracked a smile at Lance’s behavior. “He always was entertaining, but this is the best I’ve seen. No wonder he is in charge of the Drama club!” Antok was in tears. “Right… real funny.” Keith said gritting his teeth as Lance swallowed the sixteenth drink. 

He couldn’t do it. Lance choked and spat the drink out all over Keith. The room erupted into howls of laughter and cheering as that ended the competition. The others patted Lance’s back and congratulated him for getting so far. Everyone was in a good mood, except Keith who wore a frown and was looking down at his soaked shirt. Lance struggled to complete a sentence, but his apology just came out in a jumbled mess and he ended up stumbling to the bathroom to throw up. 

Keith sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He knew something bad was going to happen, he just wished he hadn’t been involved in it. He unbuttoned his shirt and took it off, balling it up and throwing it into a corner of the room. “Hey” Kolivan objected, “What? It was your dumb competition that ruined my shirt. You can clean it…” “Fair enough.” He shrugged. “Besides, Antok is on laundry duty this week.” “That’s not fair!” Antok whined. 

Lance came back out of the bathroom, his face wet from the water he splashed on himself to wash off. The two boys made eye contact and suddenly Keith felt very exposed. Lance’s eyes went wide and luckily his face was already flushed from the alcohol, so it hid the intense blush that spread across his face. “Ay mami….” He said before he could even make sense of the situation.

Ulaz whistled at Keith and Trace smirked at the two boys staring at each other. “Good lord, get a room you two!” Antok laughed. Keith flushed and grabbed Lance’s dress coat and tie. He put the coat on and then grabbed Lance’s arm. “We’re going back to your room, and you’re going to bed.” “We…?” “NO! I mean I’m taking YOU back to your room!” the others continued to laugh heartily at how awkward Keith was. “Come back anytime you want to challenge me again.” Kolivan called after Lance as the two stepped out of the room.

“That won’t be happening again.” Keith growled under his breath as he closed the door behind them. Lance was still dazed and drunk as Keith led him down the hall cautiously, checking corners to avoid any students that might be awake this early in the morning. “You should not wear a shirt more often.” Lance was saying as Keith pulled him along.

“And wouldn’t you just love that?” Keith replied angrily. “Actually…. Yes…” Lance said after a pause. Keith looked over his shoulder at Lance in disgust, but caught his breath. Maybe it was because Lance was drunk, but either way he was not in control of his facial expressions like he usually was. His eyes sparkled at Keith in such an admiring way that Keith felt this was surely the same unconditional love you saw in a puppy’s eyes. He almost stopped walking. 

“Lance, I…” he started but then stopped himself. What was he even going to say? Lance hiccuped reminding Keith that he was drunk. “That’s all it is. You’re drunk.” He said more to himself than to Lance. “I’m not drunk –“ he stumbled, “I’m just love drunk…” He rested his forehead on Keith’s back. “I’ve always been.” Keith swallowed.

He didn’t dare turn around. He didn’t know what he would do. Lance was so vulnerable right now and he might not even remember this night after he woke up tomorrow with a major hangover. But there was a chance he did remember, and Keith didn’t want to ruin what they had by doing something stupid right now. He was a little buzzed himself or he wouldn’t be thinking about kissing Lance. That was a lie, he thought about that a lot actually.

“Lance… let’s get you to your room. You’re drunk.” Keith said, still holding Lance’s arm in his grip. He tightened it slightly. “But if I go, you’ll leave. And I don’t want you too.” Lance slurred, reaching up and taking Keith’s arm. Keith let his hand slid down to hold Lance’s hand, his back still to him. Lance’s head was still against his back where he had put it to steady himself when he stumbled. 

“I just don’t want to ruin anything…” Keith said softly as he squeezed Lance’s hand. “Then we’re in the same boat.” Lance stood up straight and Keith glanced over his shoulder again. Lance pulled at his arm to turn him around so that they faced each other. Keith looked up slightly, into Lance’s face. “You’re really drunk…” he said in a half hearted attempt.

“Right… So I probably won’t remember a thing tomorrow. In which case that sucks for me.” He smirked. Keith looked away and put his free hand to his neck awkwardly. “That seems unfair…” “Yeah, which is why I’m leaving the choice up to you.” Even though he was drunk, Lance seemed to be focused in this moment. “Keith…”

Keith looked up at the taller boy again. “Yeah..?” He breathed. “Can I kiss you?” Keith’s eyes went wide and he involuntarily took a step back. “I… I don’t know?” He fumbled for the right words. _“YES!”_ His mind screamed at him. _“For God’s sake yes!”_ He took a shaky breath, not trusting himself to say anything else. Lance sighed and pulled Keith into a hug. “I won’t force you to like me. But I’ve had the biggest crush on you since I saw you.”

Keith put his arms around Lance and rested his head against his shoulder. “It’s nice that you’re taller than me.” He said before he realized it. He reflexively frowned at himself, but then realized that if Lance was being honest, he should probably be honest too. Even if it was just to himself. Yes, he loved this obnoxious person. He sighed softly. “Okay…” he said.

Lance pulled away to look at him, studying his face. “It’s okay?” He asked, “You’re not just doing this for me are you?” “No.” Keith replied quickly. Before he could stop himself, he was standing on his toes and pressing his lips against Lance’s. Lance was surprised at first, but then returned the passionate kiss. Their body heat spiked, and Keith pushed Lance against the wall, letting him slide the dress coat off his shoulders. 

“I sure as hell hope I remember this tomorrow” Lance breathed between kisses. Keith scoffed, “I’ll just have to help you remember then.” “I’m okay with that” Lance said pulling Keith’s body toward him. They made their way drunkenly down the hall toward Lance’s room. Unfortunately Hunk was already asleep in the room and Lance and Keith didn’t want to wake him up. Not right now anyways.

“I’d say my room, but Shiro’s there…” Keith said grumpily. Lance shrugged and kissed his neck, sending a shiver through his body. “Dude, we’ll wake up Hunk.” “Yeah I know, but I don’t want to stop. You’re too good.” Keith blushed and rolled his eyes. “Stop that sweet talk, you’ll forget everything in the morning and I’ll have to live with that.” “Will I?” Lance asked pulling away slightly. “I don’t know, you might…”

Lance smiled mischievously and Keith’s heart skipped a beat. “Well, you know how I feel now, so if I forget, it’s up to you.” Keith wasn’t sure if he wanted that responsibility. But Lance had shown him how he felt and that he was ready, it was Keith that was still unsure of himself. He really didn’t want to screw things up between them. He had had such bad luck in his past relationships, and this one was too special. 

He looked at Lance with a pained expression and just hugged him. “You should get to bed…” “You could join me.” Lance teased and Keith cracked a smile. “No way, neither of us would get sleep, and I don’t want Hunk to wake up in the morning to find that mess.” Lance stifled a laugh. They had been whispering but Hunk still grumbled in his sleep as he readjusted himself in his bed. 

Keith gave Lance a quick kiss before he rushed out of the room and down the hall before Lance could stop him. His heart pounded like a jackhammer. As he walked down the hall, he found the forgotten dress coat on the ground. _“Good thing I came back this way”_ he thought as he picked it up.

He pressed it against his chest. Was this really okay? Lance seemed so sure, why did he still feel so scared. He put the coat on and went back to his room. It was 4 o’clock in the morning and Shiro was already asleep. He stepped in softly and dropped himself on his bed. His thoughts swirled around in his head. What if Lance remember what happened tonight… Would he feel hurt if Keith wasn’t ready to commit to this. 

That was stupid, he knew Lance would be hurt. But he also knew that if he was honest and told Lance how scared he was that Lance would understand and be patient. That’s what he loved about him. So if he knew he was safe with Lance, why did he keep doubting himself. His head was starting to hurt from the alcohol and he was having a hard time thinking straight. Lance kissing him replayed over and over in his head and this time he didn’t push it out of his mind, he let himself enjoy the memory.


	27. Chapter 27

Sunday rolled around and everyone was recovering from the past week in their own way. Some more than others. Katie yawned and blinked her eyes open. Allura was already sitting at her desk studying for a test she had this coming week. She turned to look at Katie who was just sitting up in bed. “Well good morning sleepyhead. You know it’s past 11 o’clock.” Katie smiled. “Just how I like it.”

“Oh you lazy thing.” Allura laughed. “You even went to bed before everyone else.” Katie stretched, “I just need a lot of sleep is all.” She got out of bed and rummaged through her clothes to find something comfortable to wear for her off day. “Who are you being today?” Allura asked setting her pen down and closing her notebook.

“Myself” Katie said simply as she grabbed her favorite pair of shorts and her green sweater. Allura smiled, “That’s good to hear. Have any plans for today or will you just lock yourself up in the room and do nerd things?” Katie stuck her tongue out at her roommate. “Yes I’ll be doing nerd things.” She went into the bathroom to get dressed and brush her teeth.

She was going to work on Rover and give him little mechanical arms so that it could open doors. She realized that this would be a very useful thing for her robot to be capable of. “Maybe I’ll find Hunk at lunch and nerd out with him.” She said spitting toothpaste out into the sink. “He did seem regretful that you guys hadn’t been able to do so yesterday.” Allura replied from her desk. “It’s nice to have someone to geek out with. He gets me!”

Katie stepping out of the bathroom and threw her pajamas onto her bed. “Well lunch is in half an hour if you’re hungry. And I know you are because you always wake up hungry.” Allura said, standing up to go fold Katie’s pajamas. She put them neatly on the pillow. “I told you you don’t have to do that.” Katie commented as she found Rover. “I know, but it makes me feel better when I do.” 

“Suit yourself, miss tidy.” Katie laughed. “Talking about suits. I hung up the one you gave me right over there. Can you return it or something? I hate the idea of you spending that much money on me.” Allura waved her hand dismissively. “Really, you did me a big favor yesterday so I don’t mind. But yes I can have it returned if it makes you feel better.” “It really will.” Katie agreed.

The two talked about the party last night and how Allura got to spend time with Shiro. “So will you guys make it official?” Allura flushed, “What? Goodness no.” Katie was aghast, “why not?” She demanded. “Just because we held hands doesn’t mean we have confessed feelings for each other. Bedside, I’m a lady, so I won’t assume such things. Until he asks me properly, we aren’t a thing.” She nodded firmly. 

Katie had nothing to say to that and the two started laughing. “How ladylike indeed.” She finally admitted. It wasn’t like she actually had a problem with Allura’s way off thinking, in fact she admired it. Allura looked at her watch, “Would you like to go to lunch now? We’ll be the first ones there.” “It means fresh first picks, so yes.”

The two set out and headed up the stairs toward the cafeteria. Sure enough they were some of the first people there. Katie was fine with this, after all the excitement yesterday she wanted some peace and quiet. She was also glad that none of the other students in the cafeteria, where people she knew. “This is nice.” She admitted as the two girls went to take a seat at their usual table. “We haven’t eaten together, alone in a while.” Allura agreed.

“I think things were rather boring before you met Lance and got dragged into this mess.” Katie took a big bite of her food and growled slightly at Allura’s comment. “Yeah that idiot…” she said through a mouthful of chicken. “I miss my easy life of classes and only interacting with you and Matt.” “But do you really?” Allura asked.

Katie stopped mid-bite. “I mean… well…” she thought about it. “Yeah maybe I don’t. When I think about it, having all this excitement, it’s not bad. As long as I get days like this to just relax alone, having something keep me busy the rest of the week is actually fun. But I could totally skip all the drama with Lotor…” Allura coughed delicately. “You and I both.” They laughed. 

Hunk came into the cafeteria soon afterwards. Katie had been waiting for him to arrive, he was usually right on time, but she saw why he was late today. He was hovering nervously around Lance who was trying very hard to walk straight. Allura and Katie gave each other concerned looks as Hunk directed Lance to their table. “Dude… you look awful.” Katie commented as Lance rested his head on the tabletop.

“Dude, I _feel_ awful,” He replied, “Never drinking again…” Allura gasped. “You were drinking last night?” She hissed through her teeth. “That’s not allowed in school. Please tell me you were off campus.” Hunk looked worried and glanced both ways before leaning in and whispering, “They were on campus… Lance went with Keith to his friends dorm and they got drunk.”

“Lance that’s really careless of you.” Allura added. “I know I know! Worst part is its all a jumbled mess and I don’t know what really happened and what didn’t.” Lance seemed quiet upset about this fact and it peeked Katie’s interested. “Why..? Did you and Keith kiss?” “Katie!” Allura scolded, “Whaaaat? What else could have happened for him to be so upset that he can’t remember?” She put her hands up defensively. But Lance and Hunk were both quiet. 

Katie gasped, “No way!” Lance looked away blushing. “I can’t remember exactly, but I know Keith helped me back to my room after I got drunk. And well… it’s not beyond me to have wanted to kiss him.” He put a hand over his face, “Gosh, I just don’t know. I don’t want to ask him or say anything because it could just make a big mess. You know how he is!”

“Have you seen Keith since last night?” Katie asked. “No…” Lance admitted. “Well, then maybe when you see Keith, his reaction will confirm it.” She said, trying to comfort him. “I’m not sure I want a confirmation.” Lance admitted rubbing his temples. “This hangover is awful” he whined, laying his head on the table again. “Poor thing” Katie said patting his head. Lance just made a pitiful sound.

Allura and Hunk exchanged looks. This had potential to be bad. “Just letting you know that I ship you two really hard.” Katie was telling Lance as she continued to pat his head. He moaned, “Thank you?” “You’re welcome. Just let me know when you need backup.” Hunk stood up to get food, offering to get something for Lance, but he shook his head. “Maybe just some water then.” Hunk said as he left to get it.

Shiro showed up without Keith. But when Lance heard his voice he jumped in his seat and looked around frantically. “Lance, if you react like that Keith will know something is up. Relax.” Katie said. “Sorry, sorry.” Lance muttered. Shiro looked surprised at Lance’s reaction. “Hey Lance, is everything okay?” He asked rubbing his back. “Yeah, just tired.” Lance lied. Shiro looked at Katie and Allura, but they just shrugged. “You’ll find out eventually I’m sure.” Allura offered.

“I’m not sure I want to know, but you’re probably right if it’s bad enough.” Shiro frowned. “Where’s Keith?” Katie asked quietly so Lance couldn’t hear. “He isn’t feeling well because he was partying last night, so he stayed in his room.” Shiro answered, eyeing Lance. “Maybe someone else should have stayed in his room too.” Lance made a sound to let them know he could hear them.

Hunk came back with his food tray and water for Lance. He then asked Katie abut Rover and they finally got the chance to nerd about it. “So you’re thinking of giving Rover arms?” “Yah! They’ll be retractable so you wouldn’t know he had arms unless you caught him using it.” “Sneaky, I like it!” “Right? Do you want to help me build them?” Hunk made an exaggerated gasp, “Yeeeeeees!”

Katie laughed. “Great! Wanna meet in the robotics lab in a bit? Maybe at 2:20?” Hunk checked his watch, “I can do that. I’ll just study tonight. Maybe you can help out in my culinary test by trying my pastries?” Katie almost drooled, “You know I’m down for that.” Hunk laughed. “Usually Lance helps me, but I don’t think he should tonight.” Hunk looked over at his roommate who had fallen asleep on the table. He gave Lance a pitiful look. “He really tries too hard…”

“Yeah, he really doesn’t need to.” Katie sighed. “I’m going to get him back to the room. Meet you in the robotics lab at 2:20?” “Yes!” Katie got to her feet, “I’ll see you at the lab. I’ll go grab Rover right now.” “Sounds good.” Hunk grunted as he put Lance’s arm over his shoulder and lifted him to his feet. Lance woke up with a start, “What?” “We’re going back to our room.” Hunk informed him, “Oh okay.” “See ya Katie!” Hunk called as he left with Lance. 

“Yep.” Katie got to her feet to. “I’m going.” She told Allura and Shiro who were talking together. “Alright, have fun relaxing today and doing nerd things.” Allura waved. Shiro raised a hand in goodbye as Katie turned to leave. She walked out the doors and passed right by Lotor who was entering the cafeteria. They made eye contact, but Katie quickened her pace and headed for the stairs.

“Pidge…?”


End file.
